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Plan 75 film image, director Chie Hayakawa

Plan 75

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The future is now in Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75. With 30% of Japan’s population over the age of 65 and one of the lowest birth rates in the world, the Japanese face a historic economic and healthcare crisis. The film presents a near future in which Japan formulates an utterly clinical solution: citizens aged 75-plus can voluntarily euthanize themselves for the good of society.

The plan seems to work, with government facilities crowded with seniors like Michi (Chieko Baisho), a retired cleaning lady who, for ¥100,000 (roughly $960), will be put to death. Bureaucrats like Hiromu (Hayato Isomura) and Filipino migrant worker Maria (Stefanie Arianne) both benefit professionally from killing the elderly rather than caring for them, but beneath the surface everyone is left questioning the morality of it all.

Hayakawa crafts what Slant Magazine calls “[a] tale of human solitude and social cruelty.” With subtle, heartbreaking performances and an unflinching examination of Japan’s current situation, Plan 75 captured audiences at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, winning a Caméra d’or Special Mention Award.

 

Special Mention for Camera d’Or, Cannes 2022

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Chieko Baisho, Hayato Isomura, Stefanie Arianne, Yuumi Kawai, Taka Takao

Credits
Country of Origin

Japan/France/Philippines/Qatar

Year

2022

Language

In Japanese with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
112 min
Award Winners Drama Human Rights & Social Justice Women Directors

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Credits

Producer

Eiko Mizuno-Gray, Jason Gray, Frédéric Corvez, Maéva Savinien

Screenwriter

Chie Hayakawa

Cinematography

Hideho Urata

Editor

Anne Klotz

Original Music

Remi Boubal

Director

Chie Hayakawa headshot, Plan 75 director

Chie Hayakawa

Chie Hayakawa was born in Tokyo and studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her short Niagara (2013) was selected by Cannes Cinéfondation in 2014, won the FIPRESCI Award at the Vladivostok Pacific Meridian International Film Festival, and Grand Prizes at the International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul and the PIA Film Festival. Her short film version of Plan 75 was part of the anthology Ten Years Japan (2018), which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, followed by theatrical releases and an international festival tour. Plan 75 marks Hayakawa’s feature film directing debut.