Goodbye

Goodbye is set in the village of Rokkasho in Aomori Province in northern Japan. The film is fictional, but the place and its problems are real. There is a large nuclear reactor (for the controversial re-processing of nuclear fuel) and massive protests against it.
The film is very realistic, but is set in the near future. The girl Kimi lives with her lover Osamu and his father in the cold and disconsolate Rokkasho. Both Osamu and his father work at the nuclear reactor. Kimi and Osamu are thinking of getting married, but when Osamu is exposed to plutonium at work, they fear that this will have an effect on any possible offspring. Kimi wants to get married anyway, but Osamu leaves the village. Kimi stays behind with the father.
The power of the film is in the acting by Nishiyama Maki, who plays Kimi, and in the image of the location. The film tells a sensitive story in a beautiful way and evokes questions about the future. Goodbye was made by a crew of young and committed people. They also made the special film series Lazarus, the project by Kishu Izuchi that can also be seen at this festival. Lazarus also tackles political issues using fiction, without degenerating into the sloganising of political film making. (GjZ)