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Nicknamed “The Japanese CSI” and once set for a pre-Covid Korean remake, “Unnatural” is a popular Japanese forensic drama, penned by award winner Akiko Nogi and directed by Ayuko Tsukahara. The mini-series originally aired on TBS in 2018 and despite winning Excellent Award at the International Drama Festival in Tokyo – as well as several industry prizes – and building an enthusiastic fanbase, has not been followed by a second season. The Korean remake initially set for 2022, also appears to have stalled, likely due to bad timing (Covid) or maybe for a too strong resemblance with “Partners for Justice”, another Koream forensic drama of the same year. However, considering that remakes and second seasons are not always good news, the series can be fully appreciated in its acclaimed original 10-episode form, now available on Netflix.

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Udi (Unnatural Death Investigation) is a forensic...

Showcasing some of the biggest shows on the open market – “King & Conqueror,” “Sandokan,” “Walking With Dinosaurs”– as well as a bevy of awaited titles – “Bookish,” “Cold Water,” “Maigret,” “A Prophet,” “This City is Ours”– the 2025 London TV Screening is again a powerhouse showcase of some of the biggest TV highlights of 2024, plus the trends shaping TV markets.

To help you cut through the slates, here’s Variety’s picks of 20+ shows that will whet buyers’ appetites.

“All Her Fault,” (NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution)

Sarah Snook, fresh off “Succession” and an Olivier win for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” plays Marissa Irvine. She arrives to collect her son Milo from his first playdate, but the woman who answers the door isn’t a mother she recognizes. She doesn’t have Milo, she says, and has never heard of him. And so, the nightmare begins. Dakota Fanning, Jake Lacy, Michael Peña,...

Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Ryuhei Matsuda, Mikako Ichikawa, Yuko Daike, Hanae Kan, Kaiji Moriyama, Tamaki Ogawa, Taro Suwa | Written by Atsushi Kaneko, Akio Satsukawa, Suguru Takeuchi, Shirô Yumeno | Directed by Suguru Takeuchi, Akio Jissoji, Hisayasu Sato, Atsushi Kaneko

Rampo Noir is a visually arresting anthology film that brings together four short stories inspired by the works of Japanese author Edogawa Rampo, often referred to as the Japanese Edgar Allan Poe. Directed by a quartet of filmmakers – Akio Jissoji, Atsushi Kaneko, Hisayasu Sato, and Suguru Takeuchi – each segment of the film delves into the macabre, surreal, and psychological depths of Rampo’s unsettling world.

The film’s strongest suit is undoubtedly its visual style. Every segment is meticulously crafted, offering a unique aesthetic that ranges from gothic elegance to nightmarish surrealism. The directors employ a variety of techniques—stark lighting contrasts, elaborate set designs, and experimental cinematography—that evoke a dreamlike and,...

Live-action anime adaptations have always been a hot topic of debate within the fandom. Plummeted by negative reviews from both critics and fans, whether they deserve it or not, most live-action films and series based on anime face overwhelming dismissal. After all, it's a strenuous task to strike a balance between capturing the original anime's magic and accurately bringing larger-than-life storylines into a grounded medium.

Unsurprisingly, most live-action anime adaptations fail to live up to fans' demands and often unrealistic expectations — even when the production has a decent budget, great special effects, and talented actors. Worst of all, community prejudice will always push back and find something to rage about. However, some anime live-action anime proved skeptics wrong by doing justice to the source material.

Updated on January 25, 2024 by Angelo Delos Trinos: Even if anime fans refuse to admit it, live-action anime have come a long way since the...

Fatally, perhaps, I went into Shin Kamen Rider as a Hideaki Anno fan first and a Kamen Rider fan… not so much. I knew about it, of course: the iconography of the motorbike-riding superhero with his bug-eyed grasshopper mask is as thoroughly ingrained into Japan’s pop-cultural consciousness as any Marvel or DC character in the States, having been a staple of TV, film, manga, and young boys’ imaginations for over half a century. Consume enough Japanese pop culture, and some exposure to Kamen Rider––his bike, his mask, his kabuki-like battle poses––is inevitable. Having seen barely one of the hundreds of hours of Kamen Rider content out there, however, I could not fill you in on the finer points of its character names, relationships, or plotlines––meaning that when Anno’s latest, allegedly standalone film stopped for regular applause lines and deep-cut lore references that received whooping ovations...

A gentle stillness revives itself at the end and beginning of every breath, its vibrancy tangible when tuned into its frequency at each precise moment. It is a calmness, a small measure of peace, seldom found under the neon buzz of a megacity such as Tokyo or any given metropolis around the globe wherever the urban frenzy is ceaseless. Life far removed from time's boorish grasp – its frantic march toward the inevitable, its relentless demand for toil and progress – finds a gentler purpose: an opportunity for spiritual detoxification, a glimmer of strength to face the past head-on. For lurking in the periphery, obscured by shadow, are the ghosts and demons in constant pursuit, and no amount of running can keep them at bay forever. In “Side by Side”, Chihiro Ito painstakingly curates this serene tapestry in which Kentaro Sakaguchi's Miyama eschews his trauma and makes his escape.

Side by Side...

“Shin Ultraman” wouldn’t be the first time filmmakers Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi reimagined a popular tokusatsu character. A few years prior, they gave audiences “Shin Godzilla,” an alternate title for the feature being “Godzilla Resurgence.” It is a film that is not only an entertaining monster flick but a suspenseful political thriller with clever commentary. Also reinstated are the themes of the original “Godzilla” directed by Ishiro Honda on the horrors of nuclear warfare. In conjunction with that is satire inspired by the Japanese government’s poor handling of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

Japan is thrust into panic and chaos when a giant creature appears and starts causing destruction. The beast is referred to as Godzilla, and it is constantly evolving. The government works to prevent further catastrophe while overcoming bureaucratic red tape. The story is simple but engaging, balancing humor...

How much our lives can get destroyed just by plain coincidence or the particularly bad string of coincidences? It is an ages-long philosophical question that has been treated in movies practically from the beginning. Japanese auteur Koji Fukada, however, does not take the usual path to tell this kind of story. It is not a mystery or a thriller, it is a psychological drama focused on one singular character in the midst of the turmoil. “A Girl Missing” premiered in Locarno and we caught it at Viennale.

“A Girl Missing” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema

The character here is Ichiko, whom we meet as Risa Uchida, a widow looking for a change in her life. She says that directly to her hairdresser Kazumichi (Ikematsu Sosuke), explaining that she chose him because of his last name he shares with her late husband. The two of them...

The concept of tourism and the way the people who travel perceive their vacations is a very interesting one, particularly when it involves urban residents visiting rural places, having very specific things in their minds about what they are going to experience. Naoko Ogigami directs a film that plays with the notion in a rather hilarious but also down-to-earth fashion.

Glasses is screening as part of Five Flavours Asian New Year’s Eve Online

Taeko, a woman who looks dangerously similar to Ogigami herself, visits an Okinawan island, having booked some nights in a small guesthouse, with the clear notion that she will be left alone there, in her search for peace and quiet. She is, thus, astonished when the hotel proprietor sits down to eat with her, along with two other people of the area, Haruna, a woman her age, and Sakura, an elderly lady whom she also finds...

Nothing is as it seems in A Girl Missing, the latest feature from writer and director Kôji Fukada. Mariko Tsutsui stars as Ichiko, a visiting nurse who becomes a suspect in the kidnapping of Saki (Miyu Ozawa), a young student she had been helping study for school exams. Flashbacks follow Ichiko before and after the incident as she discards her past and her fiancé for a solitary life in a new neighborhood. What happens to Saki and her older sister Motoko (Mikako Ichikawa) unfolds simultaneously through two timelines.

Tsutsui also appeared in Fukada’s Harmonium, which won Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes. Fukada has been a member of the Seinendan theater group, founded by Oriza Hirata, since 2005. Seinendan actors, as well as Hirata’s theories about “quiet drama,” have figured significantly in Fukada’s work. (His 2015 sci-fi drama Sayonara was based on a Hirata play.)

We spoke with...

"It had to come out eventually." Film Movement has debuted an official trailer for a Japanese indie drama titled A Girl Missing, the latest from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada. This film first premiered at the Locarno and Toronto Film Festivals last year, and stopped by a number of international festivals throughout the fall. Koji Fukada's followup to the critically-acclaimed Harmonium, A Girl Missing "is a satisfying slow-burn drama expertly told." A home-care nurse's relationship with the family she has spent years working for is threatened when her nephew is arrested for kidnapping their daughter. Japanese filmmakers love to tell dramatic stories about family and interpersonal relationships with devastating twists and turns. The film stars Mariko Tsutsui, Mikako Ichikawa, and Sôsuke Ikematsu. This looks like it starts out rather slow & calm and gets extremely intense as it goes on. Here's the official US trailer (+ two posters) for Kôji Fukada's A Girl Missing,...

One of the most intriguing careers to track this past decade has been that of Kōji Fukada. Gaining international acclaim with his Cannes prize-winning family drama Harmonium, the Japanese director followed it up with A Girl Missing, a slow-burn mystery thriller that premiered at Locarno Film Festival last year and went on to play at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. Now set for a release in Virtual Cinemas nationwide beginning this Friday, we’re pleased to debut the exclusive trailer courtesy of Film Movement.

The film follows two timelines, both featuring Mariko Tsutsui’s character. In one, she works as a home nurse for a family, but one of their granddaughters goes missing and someone in the family may be involved. In another timeline, she forms a relationship with a younger hairdresser. One of the film’s many pleasures lies in Fukada’s specific...

A Girl Missing director Kôji Fukada seated in front of posters for James Crump’s Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco and Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy! at Film Movement Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Kôji Fukada’s A Girl Missing (Yokogao), shot by Ken'ichi Negishi (Akihiro Toda’s Neko Ni Mikan), stars Mariko Tsutsui with Mikako Ichikawa, Miyu Ogawa, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Sôsuke Ikematsu, and Ren Sudo. Fukada’s Harmonium won the Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize in 2016 and he is also the director of The Man From The Sea and Au Revoir L’Été. At Film Movement in New York I spoke with Kôji about his love of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, how some say his heroine resembles Golden Globe winner Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker in Todd Phillips’ movie, unravelling societal conventions, and what he did to create the sound design in post-production.

Motoko (Mikako Ichikawa) with Ichiko (Mariko...

How much our lives can get destroyed just by plain coincidence or the particularly bad string of coincidences? It is an ages-long philosophical question that has been treated in movies practically from the beginning. Japanese auteur Koji Fukada, however, does not take the usual path to tell this kind of story. It is not a mystery or a thriller, it is a psychological drama focused on one singular character in the midst of the turmoil. “A Girl Missing” premiered in Locarno and we caught it at Viennale.

“A Girl Missing” is screening at Viennale

The character here is Ichiko, whom we meet as Risa Uchida, a widow looking for a change in her life. She says that directly to her hairdresser Kazumichi (Ikematsu Sosuke), explaining that she chose him because of his last name he shares with her late husband. The two of them commence a friendly relationship that might turn into something more romantic,...

Mariko Tsutsui stars as home-care nurse embroiled in kidnapping aftermath.

Film Movement has snapped up North American rights to Kôji Fukada’s Tiff selection A Girl Missing ahead of its North American premiere tomorrow (9).

The acquisition bulks up the distributor’s slate of Tiff titles that includes Dian Yi’nan’s Chinese gangland noir The Wild Goose Lake, Bertrand Bonello’s horror-fantasy Zombi Child, and Hlynur Palmason’s A White, White Day.

Mariko Tsutsui plays a home-care nurse to an elderly matriarch whose relationship with the family is threatened when her nephew is arrested for the kidnapping of one of the family’s daughters.

“Does someone who’s broken a family deserve a happy future?” teenage Motoko fires at middle-aged Ichiko halfway through Koji Fukada’s A Girl Missing. The woman falters, and the question is left unanswered, hanging like a Damocles sword all throughout Fukada’s follow up to Harmonium. Much like his Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner, A Girl Missing unspools as a revenge drama homing in on people paying a price for their kindness, a tale of family disequilibrium with Mariko Tsutsui–already seen in Harmonium–serving as a magnetic lead. But even her performance can hardly salvage a film that gets swamped in its own intricated scaffolding, a knotted tale about a woman wrestling with unresolved scars, just as hopeless to find some closure as the story to morph into a satisfying whole.

By the time Motoko (Mikako Ichikawa) throws her jibe, Tsutsui is still Ichiko. In a...

The intriguing ambiguity suffusing Kôji Fukada’s “Harmonium” returns to a certain degree in “A Girl Missing,” but this time the writer-director neglects to reinforce onscreen relationships, resulting in a disappointing and unmoving drama of how a good woman’s life is shattered by keeping quiet. Thankfully, actress Mariko Tsutsui, who played the wife in “Harmonium,” exudes an intriguing off-kilter combination of sympathy and mystery as a visiting nurse whose world is changed drastically when her nephew abducts a girl she’s been mentoring, yet unfortunately the lack of script support undercuts audience involvement far more than the parallel timelines. Fukada’s reputation on the festival circuit guarantees a certain amount of play but is unlikely to win the director new fans.

An excellent opening ramps up expectations through a gratifying combination of confident filmmaking and skilled performances, playing on the potential for intimacy between a hairdresser and a first-time client.

Keishi Otomo has emerged, during the last years, as one of the most successful adaptors of manga in Japanese cinema, following in the footsteps of Takashi Miike, with films like the “Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy” and “The Top Secret: Murder in Mind”. In the case of “Museum,” he goes to a different direction from samurai and sci-fi movies, and presents a crime thriller that lingers somewhere between “Saw” and “Seven”.

“Museum” screened as part of the Asian selection at Fantasia International Film Festival

Detective Hisashi Sawamura is one of the best detectives in his department, highlighting his ingenious and coolness every chance he gets. Deep down, though, he is a mess, since his wife abandoned him, taking their son with her, after suffering years of neglect. Around the same time, a serial killer starts appearing in Tokyo, killing his victims in ritualistic but grotesque fashion, with the murders taking place only during heavy rain.

Integration and second opportunities are only two of the ideas that director Daihachi Yoshida has included in his multifaceted latest movie. Based on Tatsuhiko Yamagami and Mikio Igarashi’s manga Hitsuji no Ki (羊の木), “The Scythian Lamb“ won the Kim Ji Seok award at the 2017 Busan International Film Festival and subsequently has been well received in many important Festivals.

Scythian Lamb is screening at the 17th New York Asian Film Festival

The title itself is cryptic and opened to many interpretations; the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary (Agnus Scythicus) is a legendary zoophyte of Central Asia, believed to grow sheep as fruit. The sheep were connected to the plant by an umbilical cord and grazed the grass around the plant. When the food was gone or – in other versions of the legend – when the cord was severed, both the plant and sheep died. An intriguing and slightly disturbing myth, just like the tone of the movie.

The Third Murder Trailers

Hirokazu Koreeda‘s The Third Murder / Sandome no satsujin (2017) movie trailers stars Masaharu Fukuyama, Kôji Yakusho, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, and Mikako Ichikawa. The Third Murder‘s plot synopsis: “Misumi has a criminal record dating back many years and is now under the spotlight again. It looks like an open and shut case, [...]

Continue reading: The Third Murder Movie Trailers: A Prosecutor Searches for the Truth in a Horrific Courtroom Drama

The post The Third Murder Movie Trailers: A Prosecutor Searches for the Truth in a Horrific Courtroom Drama appeared first on FilmBook.

This is the review of The Third Murder, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, and starring Masaharu Fukuyama, Kôji Yakusho, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Mikako Ichikawa and Izumi Matsuoka. Written by Joshua Glenn for Pure Movies. Opening with a sudden and brutal act of violence, The Third Murder introduces its murderer with the same matter-of-factness with which he is viewed by the legal system. Walking along a river bed with a man we soon discover is his boss, Misumi suddenly snaps and clobbers his companion over the head. He continues to strike him once he’s down, before dousing him in gasoline and setting him alight. The fire illuminates Misumi’s face as he looks on with an implacable expression and wipes the blood from his cheek. From the off, the case is cut-and-dried. Misumi is guilty, there can be no doubt about that. He murdered a man. We saw it with our own eyes.

Stars: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ôsugi, Akira Emoto, Kengo Kôra, Mikako Ichikawa, Jun Kunimura, Pierre Taki, Kyûsaku Shimada, Ken Mitsuishi, Shingo Tsurumi, Kimiko Yo | Written by Hideaki Anno | Directed by Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi

Godzilla, officially The King of the Monsters, returns to his Japanese roots following the 2014 Gareth Edwards directed Us film in Shin Godzilla. Set in present-day Japan, the film sees an unexplained seismic event occur off the coast of Shinagawa, causing ripple effects all the way to the capital. Ministers scramble to figure out what’s going on but only cabinet secretary Rando Yaguchi knows what the audience already does. That Godzilla has majestically returned and has his fire-breathing, stomping sights on Tokyo once more…

It’s hard to belive that Godzilla, such a symbol of the nuclear fallout of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and (to a lesser extent) the Daigo...

MaryAnn’s quick take… Toho’s reboot of its most famous kaiju is, amidst intense monster action, a bitter satire on bureaucracy and a cautionary tale about humanity’s collective folly. I’m “biast” (pro): love a good monster movie

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

This is unprecedented!” a government functionary announces as a hideous giant sea monster is crawling through Tokyo and wreaking unspeakable damage. But is it? Well, yes: with Shin Godzilla — aka Shin Gojira, aka Godzilla Resurgence — legendary Japanese studio Toho fully reboots its most famous monster. In the world of this movie, Tokyo has never before seen a kaiju attack. (Nor, it would seem, has anywhere else on the planet.) In the world of kaiju movies, we’ve never seen anything quite like this: there are no subplots, no romance, no distraction of any kind from the disaster at hand.

Stars: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ôsugi, Akira Emoto, Kengo Kôra, Mikako Ichikawa, Jun Kunimura, Pierre Taki, Kyûsaku Shimada, Ken Mitsuishi, Shingo Tsurumi, Kimiko Yo | Written by Hideaki Anno | Directed by Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi

Godzilla, officially The King of the Monsters, returns to his Japanese roots following the 2014 Gareth Edwards directed Us film in Shin Godzilla. Set in present-day Japan, the film sees an unexplained seismic event occur off the coast of Shinagawa, causing ripple effects all the way to the capital. Ministers scramble to figure out what’s going on but only cabinet secretary Rando Yaguchi knows what the audience already does. That Godzilla has majestically returned and has his fire-breathing, stomping sights on Tokyo once more…

It’s hard to belive that Godzilla, such a symbol of the nuclear fallout of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and (to a lesser extent) the Daigo...

The 31st film in the franchise is scheduled to be released on July 29, 2016. Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Shinji Huguchi (Attack on Titan) will co-direct, with the former also penning the script.

When the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line mysteriously floods and collapses, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Rando Yaguchi is convinced that the incident was caused by a living creature. His claims are shrugged off by the Prime Minister who assumes the accident was caused by a natural disaster. However when a long massive tail surfaces from the Bay, the possibility of a giant monster becomes a reality

Hiroki Hasegawa (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?), Satomi Ishihara (Attack on Titan) and Yutaka Takenouchi(Best Wishes for Tomorrow) will star, while 328 well known actors will appear in supporting and cameo appearances including Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito,...

The 31st film in the franchise is scheduled to be released on July 29, 2016. Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Shinji Huguchi (Attack on Titan) will co-direct, with the former also penning the script.

Hiroki Hasegawa (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?), Satomi Ishihara (Attack on Titan) and Yutaka Takenouchi(Best Wishes for Tomorrow) will star, while 328 well known actors will appear in supporting and cameo appearances including Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito, Keisuke Koide, Arata Furuta, and Atsuko Maeda.

With Naoko Ogigami’s Rent-a-Cat out today in Japan, distributor Suurkiitos is pulling no punches in the attempt to woo cat lovers. This new 3-minute special preview video is packed wall-to-wall with cats.

The movie stars Mikako Ichikawa as a woman named Sayoko who rents out a few of her many, many cats to lonely people in town. Sayoko has spent most of her life bouncing between quirky side jobs while living in her late grandmother’s cat-filled house in the corner of town. When she’s reunited with a man from her past (Kei Tanaka), her life is soon turned upside-down.

Yes, you read that title correctly. Apparently there’s a Japanese movie about a woman who lends felines to people who need a little cheering up. Sounds like a good idea to me. After all, if a purring furball doesn’t bring a smile to your ashen mug, then you might as well tie a brick to your bottom lip and jump in a river. I’m kidding, of course. Obviously, if you’re not a cat person, this film has very limited appeal. In which case, perhaps it’s time to read something else. Here’s a quick synopsis to set the proverbial stage: An odd woman named Sayoko (Mikako Ichikawa) rents cats to lonely people. Some of the renters include an old woman who lost her husband and her cat, a middle-aged man who moved away from his family for work, a woman at a reception desk who...

A new trailer has been released for Naoko Ogigami’s Rent-a-Cat, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 14th.

The film stars Mikako Ichikawa as a woman named Sayoko who walks along the banks of the river, shouting offers of cat rental to passersby. Her service helps the people she meets deal with the loneliness in their own lives, but she can’t seem to fill the void in her own.

From an early age, Sayoko has related better with cats than humans, and her situation hasn’t changed much over the years. Other than her bevy of cats, she’s lived all alone in a one-story home in the corner of the city since her grandmother died, having very little human contact apart from her customers and an insult-hurling neighbor. One day, Sayoko’s life is turned upside down when a man from her past follows her home.

Okay, I’m a cat guy. And that’s what initially drew me to writer/director Naoko Ogigami’s upcoming drama “Rent-a-Cat”. Because, you see, it has cat in the title. I know it sounds pathetic, and, deep down, I kind of understand that. But had I not been driven by my peculiar feline fascination, I wouldn’t have stumbled across what could be a snazzy little Japanese drama. If I’d attended this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, I probably would have watched it. That’s right. Because of the cats. Don’t judge me. If you’re still reading this, here’s a synopsis: An odd woman named Sayoko (Mikako Ichikawa) rents cats to lonely people. Some of the renters include an old woman who lost her husband and her cat, a middle-aged man who moved away from his family for work, a woman at a reception...

Adding just over a dozen features and four shorts to the lists of previously announced titles (first round and Dokumente), the Berlinale announces that the Panorama program for this year's edition (February 9 through 19) is now complete. The breakdown: "53 feature films: 18 in the main program, 15 in Panorama Special and 20 in Panorama Dokumente.... 34 productions from 37 countries are screening as world premieres. Seven fictional films are directorial debuts. There are 12 German productions, and 24 women filmmakers presenting 16 films."

New narrative features:

Bugis Street Redux by Yonfan, Hong Kong. With Hiep Thi Le, Michael Lam, Greg-O and Ernest Seah.

Cherry by Stephen Elliott, USA. With Ashley Hinshaw, James Franco, Heather Graham, Dev Patel and Lili Taylor. World Premiere. The site.

Chocó by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza, Columbia. With Karent Hinestroza, Esteban Copete, Fabio García, Daniela Mosquera, Jesús Benavides. Wp.

Glaube, Liebe, Tod (Belief, Love, Death) by Peter Kern, Austria. With Traute Furthner, Peter Kern, Joao Moreira Pedrosa.

Ntv has posted a trailer for Kana Matsumoto‘s Mother Water, a new film featuring many of the same cast and staff from “Kamome Diner”, “Megane”, and “Pool”.

The film is set in Kyoto, and the title is a reference to the city’s large river and many waterways. In keeping with that theme, the story revolves around three women for whom water is of prime importance. Hatsumi (Mikako Ichikawa) makes and sells tofu, Takako (Kyoko Koizumi) opens a coffee shop, and Setsuko (Satomi Kobayashi) owns a whiskey bar. Like the water of Kyoto, the three women have a subtle but important impact on the people around them. Ken Mitsuishi and Ryo Kase also star as a public bath owner and furniture salesman, respectively.

The film marks the first time former classmates Koizumi and Kobayashi have acted in a movie together.

“Mother Water” will open at Cine Switch Ginza and...

Earlier today, a press event was held in Kyoto to announce the production of a new film called Mother Water, which involves many of the same cast and staff who previously brought us “Kamome Diner”, “Megane”, and “Pool”. The film’s seven main cast members were all in attendence: Satomi Kobayashi, Kyoko Koizumi, Ryo Kase, Mikako Ichikawa, Kento Nagayama, Ken Mitsuishi, and Masako Motai.

Set in Kyoto, the breezy tale focuses on circumstances surrounding three women and their relationships with other people around town. Much like “Kamome Diner”, the film has a peaceful, indifferent theme and involves ordinary characters brought together by a local establishment. However, instead of focusing entirely on one place, several different characters run their own businesses.

Kobayashi plays a whiskey bar owner named Setsuko, Ichikawa plays a tofu maker named Hatsume, Kase plays a used furniture dealer named Yamanoha, Mitsuishi plays a public bath owner named Otome,...