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Satoshi Fukushima was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1962. He lost sight in both by the age of 9 and his hearing at the age of 18. In 1983, he gained entry to Tokyo Metropolitan University, becoming the first deafblind person in Japan to study at the university level. He became an associate professor at Kanazawa University, and has been a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology since 2008, the first deafblind person in the world to become a full-time university professor. Junpei Matsumoto directs a movie based on the first years of his life, and particularly the role his mother played in the way he grew up.

My Mother’s Touch is screening at Camera Japan

In that regard, the movie starts with him as an infant, the youngest of three boys in his family of five, when the first issue with his eyes was diagnosed.

Satoshi (Taketo Tanaka) loses his eyesight completely at the age of 9 despite numerous surgeries, but grows up with cheerful spirit thanks to his mother Reiko’s (Koyuki) unconditional love. Surrounded by affection and friendship at high school, Satoshi’s future seems bright until one day his family realizes that he is losing his hearing as well. Determined to never give up, Reiko tries everything she can to give him a hope. Inspiring true story of a mother and son, who became the first blind and deaf professor in the world – Satoshi Fukushima.

Based on a true story, the film portrays the journey of a blind boy and his family with unconditional love. First lights, then sounds completely disappear from a boy’s life. And no matter what, his mother is determined to stand by her beloved son. This is a story about the love between a mother and son and...

True Mothers (Asa g Kuru) Film Movement Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Naomi Kawase Writer: Naomi Kawase, Izumi Takahashi, based on the novel by Mizuki Tsujimura Cast: Hiromi Nagasaku, Arata Iura, Aju Makita, Reo Sato, Hiroko Nakamima, Tetsu Hriahara, Ren Komai, Taketo Tanaka Screened at: Critics’ link, […]

The post True Mothers Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

"Thank you for giving birth to him." Film Movement has unveiled an official US trailer for the latest feature film from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase. We first wrote about a teaser for this film last year, and it was initially scheduled to debut at the Cannes Film Festival (before the fest was cancelled). It will instead launch in "virtual cinemas" around the US at the end of this month after first opening in Japan last year. True Mothers, originally known as Asa ga Kuru in Japanese, is about a young Japanese couple that adopts a child, but then six years later they are contacted unexpectedly by the child's birth mother. Or at least a woman claiming to be the birth mother. Starring Arata Iura, Hiromi Nagasaku, Aju Makita, Miyoko Asada, Taketo Tanaka, and Ren Komai. True Mothers is also Japan's official submission to the Academy Awards this year. This...

There are cinephiles who are transported to aesthetic nirvana by Naomi Kawase’s eco-spiritualism, and there are critics who flee her cinematic ashram. Neither will be wholly satisfied with “True Mothers,” the director’s contemplation of motherhood and adoption, which is her most plot-driven but least visually lustrous film yet. Like most of her previous features, this one also made Cannes’ official selection, only this one had to wait till Toronto to premiere after Covid struck. Resembling the relationship-based “Red Bean,” this dip into less mystical waters may give the film wider reach beyond French devotees to non-art-house fans of melodrama, especially in Asia.

Kawase’s father walked out at her tender age, letting her grandmother shoulder much of her upbringing. The wounds of abandonment are lyrically evoked in her debut “Suzaku,” as well as in “Shara” and “Still the Water,” while her enduring absorption with birth and her self-perception...

Cannes Film Festival’s regular Naomi Kawase will not see her new movie “True Mothers” screened there this year unfortunately, despite being added to the list of 2020 Official Selections, and we will not be able to see it in theatres for a while either, for reasons that we all know, but it will probably be present in many line-ups of the new post-summer round of Festivals.

Synopsis

Based on Mizuki Tsujimura’s novel of the same name, “True Mothers” follows the story of Kiyokazu Kurihara and Satoko, a married couple struggling with infertility and trying every medical help in order to conceive biologically. However, after a long stream of unsuccessful attempts, the couple decides to adopt the child Asato instead. Then, six years later a woman comes into their lives and introduces herself as Hikari Katakura, She claims to be Asato’s biological mother and extorts them for money.

The film stars Arata Iura,...

More Cannes trailers! Spanish distributor Cine Maldito has debuted a lovely 30-second teaser trailer for the Japanese film titled True Mothers, the latest feature film made by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase. This was just announced last week as an official selection at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, which is no longer happening this year, but they announced most of their line-up anyway. True Mothers, originally known as Asa ga Kuru in Japanese, is about a young couple that adopts a child, but then six years later they are contacted unexpectedly by the child's birth mother. Or at least a woman claiming to be the birth mother. The film stars Arata Iura, Hiromi Nagasaku, Aju Makita, Miyoko Asada, Taketo Tanaka, and Ren Komai. There's no dialogue in this trailer, only footage, and it already looks like an emotional rollercoaster. Here's the first official teaser trailer for Naomi Kawase's True Mothers, direct...