Tiger Award winner Ikeda Akira (Anatomy of a Paper Clip) returns with his third feature, which amuses and bewilders in equal measure. Konoko, a young woman, wakes up on the beach and finds an insect stuck to her head. As she walks around searching for a barber to help her get rid of it, she faces unexpected obstacles in what at first appears to be an ordinary, quiet village. Comprised of a series of dream-like episodes, this unabashedly offbeat comedy balances otherworldly strangeness with decidedly Japanese scenes.
The skilled cast commit themselves to the unusually deadpan humour, bringing extended pauses and empty stares to each line, often delivered with near-robotic repetition. Amid the surrealist absurdity of individual moments – a doctor is forced into marriage for failing to save a human-sized insect from illness – the social and familial pressures that pervade Japanese society surface in surprisingly poignant ways.
Programme
While Jonaki, an eighty-year-old woman, searches for love in a strange world of decaying memories, her lover, now old and grey, returns to a world she is leaving behind. Masterful direction and superb camera work deliver a remarkable esoteric cinematic meditation.
95'
India
IFFR 2018
Two women at a crossroads in their lives meet briefly before each undertaking a journey: one returning to her family, while the other discovers a new world – and herself. Her journey takes us across breath-taking landscapes and endless bodies of water, and throws up both questions and answers about the essence of life and being.
95'
Germany
IFFR 2018
Morgellons is a mysterious disease for which medical science has no explanation. Patients feel misunderstood, but experts think they are putting ideas into each other’s heads. A glimpse into the online life of Morgellons sufferers makes it clear how contemporary media usage can lead to mass psychosis. And what the downside of all this ‘sharing’ can be.
71'
USA
IFFR 2018