Japanese Film Competition (Short Length)
Hana and Koto
- Onsite
- 7.15 (Mon) 16:40 Audio Visual Hall
- 7.18 (Thu) 14:00 Convention Hall
- Online
- 7.20 (Sat) 10:00 - 7.24 (Wed) 23:00
©Hana and Koto / Hiromi Tanoue
Director: Hiromi TANOUE
Cast : Sato TAJIMA, Shima IZUTSU, Nijitaro HIBI, Satomi KARASAWA, Don KOIKE, Noriko ARAI
2024 / Japan / 42min.
Friends since childhood, high school seniors Koto and Hana live in a port town. Koto always follows around the reliable Hana, revering her like an older sister. One day they meet Keiichi, who shares the same ambitions for the future, and the three grow close. Their friendship takes an unexpected turn when Koto notices Hana’s affection for Keiichi. The opening scene encapsulates the entire film: Koto and Hana laugh and joke as they ride their bicycles to school at full speed, buffeted by the sea breezes. The future cannot be known, but we ourselves are the only ones who can shape it—all we can do is keep pedaling with our own two feet. Seemingly insignificant fragments of the characters’ daily lives enthrall us before we realize it, and we find ourselves riding along with them. Imbued throughout with cinematic force. Hana and Koto will have its world premiere at the festival.
Director: Hiromi TANOUE
From Kochi Prefecture. Interned for a foreign news agency while at graduate school, before starting work at a news website. Has worked as a freelance video journalist since 2018, predominantly for foreign media. Finished the advanced fiction course at the Film School of Tokyo in 2022. Barefoot (22) , her graduation project for the introductory class, was selected for the Nara International Film Festival’s NARA-wave student film competition, and as a finalist for the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Amazon Prime Video Take One Award.
Message
My younger sister and I used to imitate each other when we were children. I would want what she had, and she would often follow me around. I think that a person’s choices exert a powerful influence on the people close to them, and vice versa. Although this film is fictional, in creating it I wanted to trace my own memories and recollections of the past, and to confront the sense of guilt that I sometimes felt, that as if by living I had taken the place of someone important.
