True Mothers | 朝が来る New Year J-Film Fest
Drama, Family
Presented by JICC, Embassy of Japan and Japan Commerce Association of Washington, D.C., Inc.
Mina Takla, Awards WatchKawase's best film in years...
Alex Heeney, Seventh Row...A thoughtful drama about the shame associated with unconventional motherhood.
TRUE MOTHERS Trailer | TIFF 2020 from TIFF Trailers on YouTube.
Japan's Official Submission to the Academy Awards
After a long and unsuccessful struggle to get pregnant, Satoko and her husband decide to adopt a child. Over the next six years, the middle-class couple and their young son Asato settle into a comfortable, albeit routine, life.
The family’s orderly existence is shattered by the arrival of Hikari, a young woman claiming to be Asato’s biological mother, demanding his return. As tensions mount, Satoko grows more and more emboldened to defend her family. Weaving together multiple timelines and genres with a contemplative pacing and keen sense of place, hallmarks of Kawase’s work, True Mothers is “is a deeply touching celebration of women who assume duties of love, support and compassion” (Awards Watch).
Starring Nagasaku Hiromi, Iura Arata, Makita Aju, and Sato Reo
WOMEN IN CINEMA
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Born and raised in Nara, Naomi Kawase's early films, Embracing and Katatsumori received international recognitions and awards at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 1995. With her first feature, Suzaku (1997), she became the youngest filmmaker to receive the Camera d’Or at the Festival de Cannes. Also at Cannes, she won the Grand Prix for The Mourning Forest (2007), the Carrosse d'Or in 2009, and also served as one of the jurors for the competition in 2013. In 2015, Kawase was bestowed with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Aside from being a filmmaker, she is the founder and Executive Director for the Nara International Film Festival. Her more recent titles include Sweet Bean (2015), Radiance (2017), and Vision (2018).
In Japanese with English subtitles | Not Rated | 2020 | 140 min | Directed by Kawase Naomi
These virtual events are free and open to the online attendees in the US, however registration on Eventbrite is required in order to receive 72-hour streaming access to the virtual screenings via email. 📌 Please note: a free Vimeo account will be needed.