Films A to Z

Runtime:

127 min.

Year of Production:

2017

Country:

Japan

Director:

Naoko Ogigami

Cast:

Toma Ikuta
Rinka Kakihara
Kenta Kiritani

Production Company:

Suurkiitos

Berlinale Section:

Panorama

Berlinale Category:

Feature Film

Teddy Award:

Teddy Jury Award

Eleven-year-old Tomo is pretty much left to her own devices. Unwashed dishes are piling up in the sink and supermarket onigiri are all there is to eat again. Tomo’s single mother usually comes home late, and drunk. When she leaves her daughter for good one day the girl has to rely on help from her uncle, who takes in Tomo to live with him and his girlfriend Rinko. At their first meeting Tomo is flabbergasted to discover that Rinko is a transsexual. Rinko immediately sets about taking care of Tomo; not only does she lovingly prepare meals but she also succeeds in creating a new home for the girl. But before long cracks appear in their perfect nest. As in her last film Rentaneko (Panorama 2012) Japanese director Naoko Ogigami offers another story about finding a way out of one’s loneliness; in the case of Tomo and her new family the solution is a mixture of human warmth, good food and the symbolic act of knitting. In quietly concentrated images the film portrays non-normative sexuality as a natural way of life and describes the value of families that are defined not by convention but by a loving, caring environment.

BIOGRAFIE Naoko Ogigami

FILMOGRAFIE Naoko Ogigami (selection)

2017 Close-Knit (Karera Ga Honki De Amu Toki Wa)  2012 Rentaneko  2010 Toiretto  2007 Kamome shokudo  2007 Megane  2005 Koi wa Go-Shichi-Gol  2003 Baber Yoshino 

Naoko Ogigami @ IMDb
Interview with Naoko Ogigami

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