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29 Jan – 8 Feb 2026

Arai Haruhiko

Director and screenwriter HARUHIKO Arai (1947, Japan) worked as an assistant director for Wakamatsu Production before making his screenwriting debut with Shinjuku, Messy District: I’ll Be There (1977), directed by CHÛSEI Sone. He established his reputation in Japan and worldwide with works such as W’s Tragedy (1984), Flakes of Snow (1985), and Someday (2011). For the latter Haruhiko received the Screenplay of the Year Award by the Japan Academy Film Prize. Body and Soul (1997) was his directorial debut. A Spoiling Rain (2023), IFFR 2024 selection, is his forth feature film.

Filmography

Mi mo Kokoro mo/Body and Soul (1997), Kono Kuni no Sora/When I Was Most Beautiful (2015), Kakô no Futari/It Feels So Good (2019), Hanakutashi/A Spoiling Rain (2023)

More Info: Wikipedia, Arai Haruhiko

Arai Haruhiko at IFFR

  • It’s Only Talk

    Hiroki Ryuichi | 126' | Japan | European première

    By the maker of Vibrator. And with the actress from Vibrator. A light-hearted film about an independent woman with a less than light-hearted problem.
  • A Spoiling Rain

    Arai Haruhiko | 137' | Japan | European premiere

    A melancholy picture of entangled romantic destinies set against Japan’s waning adult film industry.
  • Vibrator

    Hiroki Ryuichi | 95' | Japan | -

    Love at first sight between a writer and a trucker leads to a voyage of (self) discovery. Hiroki, an expert in erotic fantasies, makes a…
  • Kamu onna

    Kumashiro Tatsumi | 102' | Japan | -

    Opposite of the thriller ‘Fatal Attraction’, released around the same time: this is a household drama in which the husband comes off worst and the…
  • Undulant Fever

    Ando Hiroshi | 118' | Japan | International premiere

    A female student falls for a senior, but the senior not really for her. He is willing to go to bed with her, but doesn’t…
  • Akai kami no onna

    Kumashiro Tatsumi | 73' | Japan | -

    Redhead woman leads the men astray. She is not quite what she seems. It is regarded as one of the strongest Kumashiro films.
  • Minazuki

    Mochizuki Rokuro | 114' | Japan | World premiere

    A computer nerd, Suwa (40), is suddenly deserted by his wife. Her younger brother Akira offers to help finding her, but brings Suwa into contact…