SHADOW OF SAND
2008, Japan, 76 min, Colour, Digital, PG
Directed by KAIDA Yusuke

FILM SCREENINGS - 30th August

SHARA
2003, Japan, 99 min, Colour, 35mm, PG
Directed by KAWASE Naomi

Kei and Shun are twins who live in the old town of Nara. One Jizo Festival, in the dizzying midsummer heat, Kei vanishes and time seems to come to a halt for Shun and his parents. Five years after, seventeen-year old Shun is a high school student who works on a life-sized drawing of his brother, whom he has been unable to forget. He and his childhood female friend, Yu, share a tentative attraction that neither can articulate. Then, one day, Yu discovers the secret of her birth while Shun learns what became of his brother. With their losses concealed deep in their hearts, Shun and Yu make a move forward with their lives.

A special screening of Summer Vacation with Naomi Kawase - a companion film to Shara will be screened in this festival on 31 Aug at 11am.

Distribution: Pyramide International

SCREENING · 30 Aug Sat 2.15pm

KATATSUMORI
1994, Japan, 40 min, Colour, Digital, PG
Directed by KAWASE Naomi

Two years after EMBRACING, Kawase Naomi films the everyday life with her grandma (adopted mother). The heart-warming pictures described through the growth of peas captures the audience’s mind.

> Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 1995 - Award for Excellence

Distribution: Kumie Inc.

SCREENING · 30 Aug Sat 4.30pm (Part of a TRIPLE-BILL screening)

SEE HEAVEN
1995, Japan, 10 min, Colour, Digital, PG
Directed by KAWASE Naomi

The sequel to KATATSUMORI. The film revisits Kawase’s relationship with her “grandma”, capturing their love and attachment towards each other.

Distribution: Kumie Inc.

SCREENING · 30 Aug Sat 4.30pm (Part of a TRIPLE-BILL screening)

THE SETTING SUN
1996, Japan, 45 min, Colour, Digital, PG
Directed by KAWASE Naomi

The last piece of the trilogy, following KATATSUMORI and SEE HEAVEN. Filming her “grandma” and herself, Kawase’s gaze and insights are cast upon the lovable beings in front of her eyes.

Distribution: Kumie Inc.

SCREENING · 30 Aug Sat 4.30pm (Part of a TRIPLE-BILL screening)

PATHOS
2008, Japan, 60 min, Colour, Digital, NC16
Directed by MATSUOKA Naomi

BIRTH / MOTHER
2006, Japan, 43 min, Colour, Digital, R21
Directed by KAWASE Naomi

BROKEN BLOSSOM
2003, Japan, 48 min, Colour, Digital, NC16
Directed by MATSUOKA Naomi

A film which observes ‘life’ through childbirth. Kawase Naomi, a film director working under the theme of family, life and death, presents the bond of life through her own childbirth experience.

“Bearing a new life means dividing our life. First, I was planning to film from the day I conceived a child and to the moment I gave birth. But I realised, while filming, that this is not the story of ‘one life.’ In the end, the film sublimed to a higher stage on which we can witness the knot tying one life with another.” - Kawase Naomi

> Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2007 - Special Prize
> Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2006 - Merit Prize

Distribution: Kumie Inc.

SCREENING · 30 Aug Sat 7.30pm (Part of a TRIPLE-BILL screening)

A new story begins four years after BROKEN BLOSSOM. Matsuoka Naomi has become a mother. While caring for her young child, she ponders over her role as a woman, mother and wife, as her daughter, her husband and her life around her, imbues a deep sense of femininity in her, and in her work as a filmmaker.

Distribution: Planet Studyo Plus One

SCREENING · 30 Aug Sat 7.30pm (Part of a TRIPLE-BILL screening)

Matsuoka Naomi was the Assistant Director on Kawase’s HOTARU, and BROKEN BLOSSOM is Matsuoka’s first personal documentary, made in response to her miscarriage and the death of her mother-in-law.

“Actually, I wasn’t that interested in making a personal documentary. But with the stern reality of my life, worried about my irresolvable insomnia, I captured everything that appeared before me. Through my camera, moments of actuality evolved into a story, a story that looks just like a drama. My drama was indeed precipitated by actuality; and that is surely the true image of myself.” - Matsuoka Naomi

> Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2004 - PTS Award
> Bangkok International Film Festival 2004 - Best Short Documentary

Distribution: Planet Studyo Plus One

SCREENING · 30 Aug Sat 7.30pm (Part of a TRIPLE-BILL screening)

Yukie and Tamagawa are a couple whose relationship gets better – after she accidentally kills him. Tamagawa still lingers in her room, but is this Tamagawa a ghost, or an illusion that Yukie has created? Meanwhile Yukie’s behavior at work becomes increasingly bizarre, and when Majima falls in love with Yukie and tries to enter her life, everything goes wrong.

Distribution: EXPRESS Co. Ltd.

SCREENING · 30 Aug Sat 11.00am