World Premiere
Ryuichi Hiroki’s film is shot through with the spirit of Greek tragedy. It’s the story of Rumiko (Erika Toda), who dearly loves her mother Hanae (Mao Daichi) but is unable to feel the same way about her daughter Sayaka (Mei Nagano). Told from both Rumiko and Sayaka’s perspectives, Motherhood parses the psychology of both women, laying bare the fractures that prevent affection from passing down through the family lineage. It’s a sad story, but one that has room in it for compassion and tenderness amid the harshness.
Shooting in widescreen, Hiroki displays a peculiar but very evocative sensibility; at times, his film takes on a dollhouse-like aesthetic of ordered, brittle beauty. He’s a terrific director of actors, drawing a different portrait of frustrated passion from each lead performer. We’re used to assuming that parent and child must love each other, at least in some way; Motherhood is brave enough to question that assumption and powerful enough to call forth the deepest sympathy.
Q&A Oct 5
Media Partner
Erika Toda, Mei Nagano, Masaki Miura, Yuri Nakamura, Rio Yamashita, Atsuko Takahata, Mao Daichi
Japan
2022
In Japanese with English subtitles
Self Harm
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
A Bit of Light
A Bit of Light follows a doctor who plans to end his life following his arrest and the closure of his practice. The film ultimately asks what might reconnect a person to life when faith in institutions, work, and the future have been exhausted.
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Having navigated every rite of passage together, five childhood friends now find themselves drifting apart. Clio Barnard conspires with a stellar ensemble to bring these richly detailed, fascinatingly flawed characters to life.
Image: © Chris Harris
Seventeen
Seventeen takes us through a rough day in the lives of three Indigenous sex workers, shining a light on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and telling a story of solidarity and love.
Where the River Begins
This immersive, hypnotic film follows an Indigenous mother and daughter on a journey from the slums of Bogotá to their true home in the jungle, joined by a young gang member with an especially urgent reason to flee.
Short Forum 1: The Scarier One
The return of scary: fear in all its chilling, suspenseful, and unsettling shades.
Flesh and Fuel
Étienne lives a solitary existence as a truck driver for French company, his love life consisting of anonymous sex with men in empty parking lots. But after a passionate encounter with a Polish truck driver, his steady routine is thrown out of gear.
Credits
Producer
Tatsuhiko Taniguchi, Shunsuke Koga, Yasushi Minatoya
Screenwriter
Anne Horiizumi
Cinematography
Atsuhiro Nabeshima
Editor
Minoru Nomoto
Production Design
Tomoyuki Maruo
Original Music
Kotringo
Director
Ryuichi Hiroki
Ryuichi Hiroki’s breakthrough into mainstream film came with his 1994 feature 800 Two Lap Runners, which opened at the Berlin International Film Festival. That same year, he won a scholarship to the Sundance Film Festival and went to the United States. In 2003, Hiroki won numerous awards at more than 40 international film festivals in Japan and abroad, including the Best Director Award for his feature film Vibrator at the 25th Yokohama Film Festival.
Filmography: The Egoists (2011); Marmalade Boy (2018); It’s Boring Here, Pick Me Up (2018); Phases of the Moon (2022)