Happy weekend!
I hope you are all well!
This is the second part of my weekly trailer post. Part one can be found here.
What else is released this weekend?
Graffiti Graffiti 
グラフィティ・グラフィティ 「Gurafiti Gurafiti」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Go Matsuo
Writer: Go Matsuo, Kana Miyamoto, Taichi Yoshizawa (Script),
Starring: Rikako Watanabe, Masamichi Hagiwara, Takeshi Sumi, Mai Murakami, Haruki Murakami,
Synopsis: One night, high school girl Yuzu is goaded by some bad friends into doing some graffiti on the shutters of a store in a shopping street. The next morning, the owner of the store finds the graffiti and is furious and paints over Yuzu’s work with the word “Hetakuso!” This is a declaration of war as far as Yuzu is concerned and a grafitti fight ensues. While this happens, Yuzu gradually awakens to the fun and artistry of graffiti itself.
Tsuyogari Caponata / Macho Caponata 
強がりカポナータ 「Tsuyogari Kapona-ta」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 60 mins.
Director: Shoichi Yokoyama
Writer: Yuta Okuyama (Script),
Starring: Tadazo Igami, Shinya Orikasa, Takenori Goto, Yui Akino, Yoshiki Kondo, Atsuko Kubo,
Synopsis: Takeshi runs a popular Italian restaurant in a port town. His ex-lover Kazuyoshi went to Italy to train as a chef seven years ago so he is single. His sister is pregnant with the baby of Kazuyoshi’s younger brother and a wedding between the pair will happen before the birth. Due to this, Kazuyoshi returns from Italy and invites Takeshi to go to Italy with him…
Wonderful Paradise 
脳天パラダイス 「Noten Paradaisu」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 97 mins.
Director: Masashi Yamamoto
Writer: Suzuyuki Kaneko, Masashi Yamamoto (Script),
Starring: Kaho Minami, Seiko Ito, Soran Tamoto, Mayu Ozawa, Kentaro Okochi, Akira Emoto, Jun Murakami, Hyunri, Arata Furuta,
Synopsis: Due to his bankruptcy, Shuji Sasaya (Seiko Ito) and his family are facing having to give up their large mansion on the outskirts of Tokyo. This throws the family into a spin. His daughter, Akane (Mayu Ozawa), writes on Twitter, “Let’s have a party today at my place. Anyone can come!!” In the blink of an eye, a mob of people descend on the place including Shuji’s ex-wife Akiko (Kaho Minami), a gay couple looking for a wedding venue, elementary school students who want to rent a shower, two men cultivating suspicious plants on the premises of the Sasayas, and others who want to have a wedding, a funeral and even a festival at the mansion. Obviously, chaos ensues…
Yaunpe wo Sagase! 
ヤウンペを探せ！ 「Yaunpe wo Sagase!」
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Ryo Miyawaki
Writer: Akihiko Takaishi, Mirai Shibuya (Script),
Starring: Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Daisuke Miyagawa, Tetsuhiro Ikeda, Misako Renbutsu, Eiji Akaso, Louis Kurihara, Yuki Sakurai,
A slapstick comedy depicting dull middle-aged men who have known each other since cram school and gather together for the first time in 20 years. They are secretly rivals and struggling to outsmart each other in order to fulfil the wishes.
Synopsis: Kinya, a struggling actor, Junpei, a struggling Chinese restaurant manager, Taro, a ronin struggling to pass a teacher’s exam, and Akki, a love hotel owner, are 40-something guys who went to the same cram school when they were in college. They reunite with Misato, the girl they have long admired and the one who played the heroine in a movie they made 20 years ago, at a yakiniku restaurant. She says to the four, and said, “I need Yaumpe now, I want Yaunpe the most.” The four are confused but they may be able to marry her if her wishes are fulfilled, and so they go out to look for something called “Yaunpe”…
Listening to the Air 
空に聞く 「Sora ni kiku」
Release Date: November 21st, 2020
Duration: 73 mins.
Director: Haruka Komori
Writer: N/A
Starring: Hiromi Abe
This was at Nippon Connection earlier this year. Haruka Komori shot this film at the same time as Trace of Breath (winner of the NIPPON VISIONS JURY AWARD 2018) and in this film she followed her protagonist from 2013 to 2018.
Synopsis: A documentary about Hiromi Abe, a woman who hosts a radio show in an area devastated by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Her show is “Rikuzentakata Disaster FM” and was established in December 2011. She reports on local events and interviews the residents. Through following her, director Haruka Komori tracks the rebuilding and also the recording the personal stories of people in the area. Director Haruka Komori moved to Tohoku as a result of volunteering after the earthquake.
Nakamuraya Saketen no Kyoudai 
中村屋酒店の兄弟 「Nakamuraya Saketen no Kyoudai」
Release Date: November 21st, 2020
Duration: 45 mins.
Director: Daichi Shiraisho
Writer: Daichi Shiraisho,
Starring: Kisetsu Fujiwara, Takuma Nagao, Nagako Fujishiro, Mio Tachibana,
Hakuto Daiichi was born in Tokyo in 1996 and has worked as an actor since the age of 17. This is his directorial debut and is based on a screenplay he wrote while acting on other projects. I wrote about it for last year’s Kanzawa Film Festival.
Synopsis: A man named Kazuma returns from Tokyo to his family’s sake shop which his brother Hirofumi has inherited. As he and his brother spend time together, the warmth of nostalgia is accompanied by the sense something is different and they puzzle over the ever-changing present.
