Awards and festivals

Film description

Naoko Ogigami’s "Glasses" and "Rent-A-Cat," screened as part of the "Japanese Female Directors" retrospective at the 9th Five Flavours, took the hearts of our audiences by storm. Now the director comes back with a bitter-sweet family melodrama. A resolute 11-year old girl, Tomo, neglected by her ever-absent mother, grows up much faster than her peers. When she is left alone for too long once again, she finds shelter with her uncle, who works at a bookstore, and his transgender partner,Rinko – a nurse, who takes loving care of the girl.

Ogigami treats her topic, controversial in the Japanese society, with delicateness and tact, but the film is not a social drama, but a touching fairy-tale story about building a relationship, caring for others, and being persistent in overcoming difficulties. The director tells the story in her own style, in between words, through details, small gestures, ordinary activities – like preparing bento, a type of lunch box, which is Rinko’s special talent. She is played by one of the most popular Japanese celebrities, an actor know from films and TV series, Toma Ikuta.

Jagoda Murczyńska