North American Premiere
O Mipo’s stirring, elliptical family drama traces 28 years in the life of Igarashi Dai (Yoshizawa Ryo), a “Child of Deaf Adults” from rural Japan. Blaming his mother (Oshidari Akiko) for his social differences, he leaves his family for Tokyo as a young man, eventually landing a job as a magazine writer. The new friends he makes through a sign language group open his eyes to a diversity of deaf experiences, helping him see his mother in a poignant new light.
Based on a true story, this latest film by O Mipo (director of Japan’s 2015 Oscar submission for Best Foreign-Language Film, The Light Shines Only There) features a beautiful performance from Deaf actors Oshidari Akiko and Imai Akito as Dai’s parents, as well as impressive range from lead actor Yoshizawa Ryo (Kingdom). With handheld camerawork and an evocative contrast between sound and silence, the film makes powerful use of flashbacks that tug at the heartstrings, unfolding a nuanced and emotional depiction of Dai’s experience of Living in Two Worlds.
Supported by
Media Partner
Ryo Yoshizawa, Akiko Oshidari, Akito Imai, Yusuke Santamaria
Japan
2024
In Japanese with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Producer
Hideyuki Yamakuni
Screenwriter
Takehiko Minato
Cinematography
Hajime Tanaka
Editor
Hanako Tabata
Production Design
Shimpei Inoue
Original Music
Takuto Tanaka
Mipo O
Born in 1977. Mipo O began her career as a script supervisor. Her short film Grandmother (2003) won the grand prize in the Digital Shorts category of the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival. Her feature directorial debut, The Sakais’ Happiness (2006), won the Sundance Institute/NHK International Filmmakers Award. The Light Shines Only There (2014) won the Best Director Award in the World Competition section at the Montreal World Film Festival and was selected as Japan’s representative for the Best International Feature Film at the Oscars. Being Good (2015) won the NETPAC Award (Best Asian Film) at the Moscow International Film Festival.
Filmography: The Sakais’ Happiness (2006); Okan no yomeiri (2010); Quirky Guys and Gals (2011); The Light Shines Only There (2014); Being Good (2015)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Love
This warm, thoughtful piece offers shrewd comic observations on modern dating as it trains a quizzical eye on the trysts of a female doctor, Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), and her colleague, a gay male nurse, Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen).
April
A doggedly mysterious and haunting account of an investigation into the professionalism of a Georgian Ob-Gyn, Nina, accused of negligance, Dea Kulumbegashvili's film has been compared to the work of masters like Haneke, Glazer and Reygadas.
Desert of Namibia
A prizewinner at Cannes, Yôko Yamanaka's second film is an acerbic portrait of an arrogant, attractive, diffident, "difficult" 21-year-old woman, Kana (a mesmerizing Yuumi Kawai), who numbly drifts between boyfriends, leaving wreckage in her wake.