The first dramatic feature from Ryuichi Sakamoto’s son, Neo Sora (Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus), is a “story about the near future,” a Japan constantly rocked by earthquakes and plunging toward dystopia. Best friends Kou and Yuta are in their graduating year at high school when one night they pull a major prank on their principal. The knock-on effect is the installation of a high-tech surveillance system. With this totalitarian panopticon and the general ambiance of looming government oppression, things are looking bad for our young rabble-rousers…
Teen comedy and political protest make for a good match in Happyend, and when you add thumping techno tunes; great performances from the two leads; and winning turns from the secondary cast, the result is a blast. Shirô Sano’s cantankerous principal is the perfect foil for Kou and Yuta, and the boys’ antics are all the more winning in the face of his authoritarianism. This zesty, creative, and quite moving film shows that teen hijinks are funny even in the face of catastrophe.
Supported by
Media Partner
Hayato Kurihara, HIDAKA, Yuta Hayashi, Shina Peng, Arazi, Kilala Inori
Japan/USA
2024
In Japanese with English subtitles
At Vancouver Playhouse
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Kaoru Hayashi, Douglas Choi, Robina Riccitiello, Ema Ryan Yamazaki
Producer
Albert Tholen, Aiko Masubuchi, Eric Nyari, Alex C. Lo, Anthony Chen
Screenwriter
Neo Sora
Cinematography
Bill Kirstein
Editor
Albert Tholen
Production Design
Norifumi Ataka
Original Music
Lia Ouyang Rusli
Neo Sora
Raised in New York and Tokyo, Neo Sora is a filmmaker, artist, and translator living between the two cities. He directed the feature-length concert film Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (2023) which premiered at Venice. He is the director/writer of the short films The Chicken (Locarno 2020) and Sugar Glass Bottle (Indie Memphis 2022, Best Narrative Short), and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2021. Happyend is his debut fiction feature as a writer/director.
Filmography: Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (2023)
Photo by Aiko Masubuchi
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Teacher
In this potent thriller, English teacher Basem witnesses the murder of a teenager by a Israeli settler. While the subsequent investigation rolls slowly towards a foregone conclusion, the teacher is caught up in a parallel kidnapping case...
Bob Trevino Likes It
When her toxic, narcissistic dad cuts her out of his life, Lily Trevino looks him up on Facebook and happens across his namesake, Bob (John Leguizamo), a gentle, genial contractor who lives nearby, and who proves an altogether better dad...
The Encampments
When pro-Palestine protests took hold of Columbia last year, the filmmakers were there from the beginning. This documentary charts the mounting tensions between students and the administration, as the protests were picked up across North America.
Shepherds
Mathyas quits his marketing job in Montreal and goes to France with the romantic notion of becoming a shepherd. He's in for a rude awakening... Based on a true story, Deraspe's stirring film plays spiritual uplift off against some 3000 sheep and a donkey.
Our Lady of the Nile
Veronica and Virginia are inseparable friends at an elite Catholic boarding school, Our Lady of the Nile, but what binds them together is the very thing that separates them forever. We are in Rwanda, 1973, and tribal tensions are simmering ominously.
Faces
Ten years after his landmark debut, Shadows, John Cassavetes returned to the indie model, self-financing this wrenching portrait of the sexual mores and miseries of American middle class. Gena Rowlands is luminous as Jeannie, the film's emotional barometer.