Special Mention of the Generation Kplus International Jury, Best Film, Berlin International Film Festival 2025
A seaside town with long-term residents of all ages and genders has recently started attracting artists drawn by a project in the area. Odd incidents occur, naive adults meet cunning children and the sea and sky shimmer in the light. Middle-school student Sosuke finds life easy, energised by the joy of creating. Alongside him, the storys second main character continuously changes in the bright sunlight: the town itself. Like a restless child, it is in constant motion. Nobody is perfect but everyone has the potential to love others. While the children are inexhaustible in their attempts to solve the tasks before them, the adults repeatedly try to figure out their own existence. A collection of vignettes from an unforgettable summer where every character is lovable and filled with a tenderness that touches the heart.
Born in 1978 in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, Satoko Yokohama graduated from a university in Yokohama before working for a year as an office employee in Tokyo. In 2002, she enrolled in the Elementary Fiction Course at The Film School of Tokyo and graduated in 2004. Her graduation short film, Chiemi and Kokkunpatcho (2006), won the Grand Prize in the 2nd CO2 (Cineastes Organization Osaka) Open Competition. Using a grant from CO2, she independently produced her first feature film, German plus Rain (2007), which earned the 3rd CO2 Cineastes Osaka Mayor’s Award. Her unique perspective, capturing intangible elements in daily life, combined with thoughtful, humorous direction and visual expression, has led some to call her the “Japanese Kelly Reichardt”.
Free Stone Productions
