Welcome to the second of two trailer posts
You can find the first post here
I decided to take a break from watching contemporary Asian films and watched older titles from around the world. Ridley Scott’s Black Rain (1989) and Lucio Fulci’s The Devil’s Honey (1986) and Hal Hartley’s Trust (1990). Then I dove back into the festival line-up to continue my reviews and interviews which will restart next week.
What else is released this weekend?
Kimagure 
きまぐれ 「Kimagure」
Release Date: March 15th, 2024
Duration: 25 mins.
Director: Toshiyuki Nagaoka
Writer: Toshiyuki Nagaoka, Kaho Seto (Screenplay), Kaho Seto (Original Novel),
Starring: Kaho Seto, Shusaku Uchida, Michiyo Ishimoto, Narumi Sakurai, Yuu Futami, Sho Mineo,
Website Twitter: @kimagure_film
Kaho Seto, the star of New Religion, produced this film and wrote the story for it and stars in it.
Synopsis: The Iwata family have travelled to another city to attend a relative’s wedding before they each make major changes. Momoko, the eldest daughter, is about to get married, Sakurako, the second daughter, is going abroad to study, and Kazumi, the mother, is thinking of divorcing Satoshi, the father. With their lives diverging, they each feel this will be the last family holiday they spend together and as the women wander in the city they have different experiences.
ブルーイマジン 「Buru- Imajin」
Release Date: March 16th, 2024
Duration: 93 mins.
Director: Urara Matsubayashi
Writer: Minami Goto (Screenplay),
Starring: Mayu Yamaguchi, Asuka Kawatoko, Yui Kitamura, Yuzumi Shintani, Iana Bernardez, Hirobumi Watanabe,
Website Twitter: @blueimaginefilm IMDB
Urara Matsubayashi has risen from being an actress (The Hungry Lion) to producer (Kamata Prelude, Saga Saga) to this film where she is a director. Each of her works has a #MeToo theme and this is the most explicit and thorough examination of it yet. It tackles sexual assault and predatory directors in the Japanese film industry and also shows why solidarity with victims, and showing kindness and understanding, is important.
Synopsis: Noel is an aspiring actress who has maintained her silence as a rape victim. When she finds a share house for women called “Blue Imagine”, she begins a slow process of healing as she interacts with other inhabitants who have been through similar experiences of abuse. The camaraderie she finds allows her to come to the aid of another actress who was targeted by the same director and the two publicly speak out. The two encounter prejudice and backlash but are able to confront their past and try to confront a culture hostile to women.
Ikusafumu 
戦雲（いくさふむ） 「Ikusafumu」
Release Date: March 16th, 2024
Duration: 132 mins.
Director: Chie Mikami
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Website Twitter: @mikami_films
Synopsis: Director Mikami spent eight years from 2015 traveling around the islands of Okinawa Prefecture and charted the lives and cultures that have been shaped by the harsh history and rich nature they have grown in. The Nansei Islands are the particular focus of this film and they are experiencing a build up of military forces, from bases and ammunition depots to Self Defence Force missile units. This is all in preparation for a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan and other threats that will turn the islands into a battlefield to take the heat away from other parts of Japan. The film shows this and what is happening to the environment and the people living under the gun.
Moeru Dress o Tsumuida 
燃えるドレスを紡いで 「Moeru Doresu o Tsumuida」
Release Date: March 16th, 2024
Duration: 89 mins.
Director: Kosai Sekine (love at least)
Writer: N/A
Starring: Yuima Nakazato
Synopsis: Yuima Nakazato is the subject of a documentary by the director of Love at Least Nakazato is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in Belgium and established his own fashion brand in 2009. The following year, he was selected as an official guest designer for the Paris Haute Couture Collection, and since then, he has continuously presented his works in Paris and collaborated with many world-famous artists for their collections and other events. Director Sekine had met Nakazato on a different project on a journey to Kenya to explore where clothes go after they are made. That project led to a year of in-depth interviews and plenty of behind-the-scenes shoots of Nakazato’s shows. The resulting footage show his ambitions and struggles and his team working together on various shows.