One Million Yen Girl | 百万円と苦虫女 J-Film

Drama

Presented by JICC, Embassy of Japan and the Japan Commerce Association of Washington, DC

20 JAN WED., 6:30 PM JICC

Quiet and determined 21-year old Suzuko, eager to become independent, ends up in an unfortunate roommate situation where her own form of justice is met with a short sentence behind bars. After she serves her time and returns home, she resolves to work hard and save up one million yen (roughly 10,000 USD), enough money to leave and start over without the gossip associated with her new criminal reputation.

She begins her journey sticking to one rule: once she saves up one million yen, she will leave that place and embark on another adventure. Traveling throughout Japan and living a frugal life between working odd jobs, she meets various types of people. Her determination to follow her rule prevents her from getting too close to anyone, which is just what she prefers. However, Suzuko soon realizes that without overcoming her mistrust of others, she gets further away from coming to terms with herself.

Winner of the My Movies Audience Award at the 2009 Udine Far East Film Festival. Director Yuki Tanada received the award for Best New Director by the Directors Guild of Japan in 2009. For her role in this film and several others, actress Yu Aoi received the award for Newcomer of the Year in the field of Films in Media and Fine Arts by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in 2009.

Starring Yu Aoi, Mirai Moriyama, and Pierre Taki

WOMEN IN CINEMA

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

A Japanese director and screenwriter, Yuki Tanada graduated from the Japan Institute of the Moving Image. Her debut film, "Moru", won the Grand Prize at the 2001 Pia Film Festival. Since then, she has directed many critically acclaimed films such as "One Million Yen Girl" (2008) which won the New Directors Award from Directors Guild of Japan, "Ain't No Tomorrows" (2008), "The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky" (2012), and "Mourning Recipe" (2013). Her most recent film is "Round Trip Heart" (2015).

Japanese w. English subtitles | Not Rated | 121 min | 2008 | Dir. by Yuki Tanada

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