Japan202382 minJapanese with English subtitlesToronto Premiere

From the team behind Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (Reel Asian Official Selection, 2021) comes Junta Yamaguchi’s latest time loop comedy, River. Set in a quaint inn along the Kibune river near Kyoto—a one-street village wedged between a riverbed on one side and mountains on the other—staff and guests find themselves stuck in a continuous two-minute time loop. Mikoto, a waitress, returns to the river bank after each loop, plunging into a relentless cycle of perplexing scenarios. Her coworkers, the cook, and the mystified guests all grapple with mounting confusion. Despair and disorientation engulf those at the inn, as the uncanny sensation of repeatedly returning to the same moment leads to a frantic quest for answers.

Powered by sweeping takes, pulsating performances from a dynamic ensemble cast, and the distinctively vibrant visual style of creative duo Yamaguchi and Makoto Ueda, River offers a punchy yet fascinating window into the human yearning for solace, love, and ritual, mirroring the cyclical nature of everyday existence with the enigmatic loop of time itself.

– Nicolas Uribe

Japan202390 minJapanese with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereDrama, History, Romance

You rarely couple poop and romance together, but Okiku and the World does it effortlessly in the most genuine and adorable way.

Set near the end of the Edo period, the film presents a fresh take on the time and on samurai culture. Okiku (Haru Kuroki) is the daughter of a fallen samurai. The two of them now live in a tenement far from luxury. One day, she meets Chuji (Kanichiro) and love blooms. The problem is that Chuji is a manure man who collects excrement to sell to farmers. Despite the downfall of samurais, there is still a social gap between them. Will this come between the Edo-period Japanese Romeo and Juliet?

Junji Sakamoto uses a stationary camera and black and white cinematography to create picturesque, painting-like scenes. Audiences may be grateful for this choice, too, as it helps reduce any repulsion for the less glorified scenes of the toilets. Sprinkled with colour and bitter humour, the film gives us a breath of hope within despair. Although life can be sh*tty, spring will surely come.

– June Kim

Canada, Japan, South Korea, USA2023TRT: 1h37Japanese, French, Korean, English, Tagalog, Arabic

These shorts look at the soft to even slightly off-kilter bonds we find in one another, the realms we exist in, and ultimately, ourselves, despite ongoing change—no friendship bracelets required.

*Directors in attendance starred. 

Directors Bio

Japan202220 minJapanese with English subtitlesComedy, Drama, Science Fiction

In the peripheries of near-future Tokyo, high schoolers Kou and Yuta practice a prank that begins as a faux argument and involves a prop glass bottle stolen from their theater department.

Directors Bio

Neo Sora

Raised in New York and Tokyo, Neo Sora is a filmmaker, artist, and translator living between the two cities. He is in development for his debut feature as a writer-director, Earthquake.

Canada, China, Japan, Taiwan, USA2022English and other languages with English subtitlesAnimation, Experimental, Family, Horror, Thriller, Women Filmmakers

Festival favourite Midnight Snack returns for another bite! This time, 2.0 features six talented female directors who cook up tales full of intrigue and awareness, boldly confronting themes that are often left indigestible.

Japan, Taiwan202122 minutesTaiwanese with English subtitlesHorror, Thriller, Women Filmmakers

Xue-Lan, a striving actress, is invited to a mysterious gourmet club only to discover that her competition has prepared a horrifying banquet.

ACCESSIBILITY

This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.

RATING

RATED PG

Content Warning: Blood, drugs

Directors Bio

Mai Nakanishi

Born in Tokyo but spent most of her youth abroad, Mai Nakanishi is a filmmaker who focuses on genre films. In 2013, she launched Scream Queen FilmFest Tokyo to amplify the voices of female genre filmmakers.

Japan2022128 minutesJapanese with English Subtitles Canadian PremiereDrama, Thriller

Keita is the hero and the hope of the remote island Shishikari thanks to his flourishing fig business, which is about to bring in a large government grant and revitalize the community. Then an ex-convict arrives, disturbing the island’s peace. Keita’s daughter goes missing, and because someone witnesses the ex-convict committing murder, they chase after the highly likely suspect in hopes of finding the child. But an accident ensues, and to make matters worse, Keita and his friends find themselves with unwanted corpses. Soon, detectives from the mainland arrive, and covering up what happened becomes increasingly difficult.

Based on a manga by Tetsuya Tsutsui, Noise is a suspenseful drama full of twists and turns. The great Battle Royale (2000) actor Tatsuya Fujiwara and Kenichi Matsuyama of Blue (2021) reunite after the Death Note films for another synergic collaboration. With the direction of Ryūichi Hiroki, a film and television veteran, Noise delves into more than just unravelling the mystery, through its study of friendship, grudges, and desires.

— June Kim

Japan202170 minJapanese with English subtitlesComedy, Sci-fi

Cafe owner Kato closes up shop on an ordinary night only to be interrupted by a voice from the TV: his own voice, two minutes in the future. As Kato investigates the strange occurrence, the night and time itself start to unravel. Kato’s friends and colleagues get enveloped into his time warp, and the results are hilarious, calamitous and existential. 

A lean, DIY sci-fi written and performed by members of the Kyoto-based Europe Kikaku theatre group, the film uses its talents, resources, and smarts to their fullest potential, with long takes, simple locations, and finely tuned performances. But this is no modest project. It is equal parts an ambitious, mind-bending, and joyous ride of twists and turns through the (very near) future. 

-Aram Siu Wai Collier 

France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, South Korea, USA, Vietnam202177 minEnglish, various languages with English subtitles Animation, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers

How does one trace lineages and map origins? Derailing form and convention, each of these films paves new pathways of understanding by reconceptualizing the relations between pasts, presents, and futures.

Japan202110 min Japanese with English subtitlesAnimation, Family, Women Filmmakers

Painstakingly detailed, director Honami Yano tells the story of a little girl who reflects on the last summer with her father.

Accessibility

This presentation has English subtitles.

Directors Bio

Honami Yano

Honami Yano was born on a small island in Japan. Besides attending an exchange program at the Rhode Island School of Design, Yano received a master’s degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts’s Graduate School of Film and New Media.