SYNOPSIS
Natsuko lives with her husband in the countryside.
A few times a year, he goes away for two days to meet his daughter from his previous marriage. While waiting for his return, Natsuko needs to deal with her dark emotions.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
“Pushing it down.
Down and down, like sinking to the bottom of the deep sea.
Even an ugly fish won’t open its mouth to you.
Soon you will forget what you are, you become numb.”
Sometimes you have this big wave of dark emotion inside you, and you don’t know how to deal with it. All you can do is to push it down somewhere deeper inside and pretend it does not exist. But you know it is always there and it will find a time to explode.
I started writing a story when I was struggling in life. And writing was the only way at that time to let it out. This short film shows a glimpse of the protagonist Natsuko’s life, her suffocation and a little step to move forward.
ー SHUNA IIJIMA
CAST
NATSUKO - KAORI TAKESHITA
Kaori is a Japanese film and theatrical actress.
She graduated from the Kansai Arts Theater with an extensive training in acting. Beginning her career on the stage, Kaori appeared in numerous films and has showcased her incredible versatility as an actress, particularly known for portraying mothers.
She played the main character in the movie “The Garden Apartment” directed by Umi Ishihara which was nominated at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2019.
Filmography
- Natsuko (Directed by Shuna Iijima)
Nominated for best short film at the Glasgow Short Film Festival (2021)
- SHELL and JOINT (Directed by Isamu Hirabayashi)
Moscow International Film Festival(2020), International Film Festival Rotterdam (2020), Slamdance Film Festival (2020), Göteborg Film Festival (2020)
- Erica38 (Directed by Yuichi Hibi)
Awarded the Special Jury Award at the London East Asia Film Festival (2019)
- Hide & Seek (Directed by Kimie Tanaka)
Toronto International Film Festival (2015), Awarded the Grand Prix at the Shuardi Altrove Film Festival (2016)
- HAPPO-EN (Directed by Takayoshi Ohara, Yutaro Seki, Masayuki Toyota and Kentaro Hirase)
FESTIVAL DE CANNES (2014)
Website (in Japanese) : https://kaoritakeshita.theblog.me
WRITER & DIRECTOR - SHUNA IIJIMA
Shuna is a bilingual Japanese actress based in Tokyo, Japan. She studied theatre acting including Physical Theatre in London and now works mainly for films. She is known for her leading role in Anshul Chauhan's film "Bad Poetry Tokyo" which she received Best Actress Award in film festivals. Shuna enjoys acting and working for international productions. “Natsuko” is her first short film as a director.
CINEMATOGRAPHER & MUSIC - SAM KING
Sam is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer based in Tokyo, Japan since October 2016. Specialising in music, he has worked on projects for Resident Advisor, FACT Magazine, Vinyl Factory, NTS Radio, Red Bull, Ableton and many more.
As a musician he’s played in many different outfits over the years, and the soundtrack for “Natsuko” is his first ever composition for film, recorded at his home studio in Setagaya ward in Tokyo.
TRAILER
FULL FILM
FULL CREDITS
Director : Shuna Iijima
Writer : Shuna Iijima
Cinematographer : Sam King
1st AC : Thomas Beswick
Sound Recordist : Steven LeFever
Editor : Rim Fyend
Sound Mixer : Rob Mayes
Colourist : John Donica
Music : Sam King
Cast : Kaori Takeshita
Genre : Narrative Drama
Running time : 16mins
2021 | Colour | Digital | 1.9:1 | Stereo | Japanese
NEWS
2022
28th July New York Asian Film Festival 2022 (US)
12th, 15th March Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022 (JAPAN)
2021
28th March Glasgow Short Film Festival 2021 (UK)
