Japanese Female Directors
21 Seiki no Onna no Ko
Dir. Yamanaka Yoko, Katō Ayaka, Kaneko Yurina, Eda Yūka, Higashi Kanae, Igashi Aya, Takeuchi Lisa, Fukuda Momoko, Yasukawa Yuka, Shutō Rin, Natsuto Aimi, Sakamoto Yukari, Matsumoto Hana, Yamato Yūki, Tamagawa Sakura
Japan 2019, 117’
Subtitles: Polish
Organized around the theme of love, gender and sexuality, 21st Century Girl goes from genre thrills to intimate drama, from bitter to saccharine, while never losing track of its central governing idea: to act as a dedication to, and cinematic space for, the “women of the future”.
Screenings
Kino Kameralne Cafe on September 26 at 9 p.m.
Yamato Yūki
Yamato Yūki (born 1989) is a Japanese screenwriter and director. She has adapted and directed film versions of Hot Gimmick and Drowning Love, and was named Best New Director at the 24th Japan Film Professional Awards. She has also directed music videos for Nogizaka46, Momoiro Clover Z, and Radwimps.
Igashi Aya
Igashi Aya i is a director, known for Tokeru (2016), Leave in Summer and A Crimson Star (2018).
Eda Yūka
Eda Yūka – born in Gunma, 1994. Having worked as a crew in films such as Over the Fence and Mukoku, Eda made her directorial debut in the feature film Girl’s Encounter in 2017. Featuring Moeka Hoshi and Serena Motola as leading roles, the film received the Audience Award at MOOSICLAB 2017 and obtained a high valuation through its theatrical release.
Katō Ayaka
Katō Ayaka is a Japanese film director, video director, and screenwriter. After completing the 12th fiction course at Eigabi School, she produced her first directorial work Suisou. After that, she worked as an assistant director and production staff for movies and commercials, and she made her theater debut in 2015 with Onna no Ko Kirai.
Sakamoto Yukari
Sakamoto Yukari, who studied editing at Tokyo University of the Arts, did the direction, script and editing for this coming-of-age drama with a science fiction touch. Music by the punk band Zaningen. Screened at the music cinema project MOOSIC LAB 2014.
Shutō Rin
Multiple award-winning director Shutō was born in Tokyo in 1995 and launched her versatile career in high school when she first started filming. Her films include Let’s Sleep Together Again (2016) Please don’t go anywhere (2017), for both of which she directed and wrote the script for. Shutō won three awards at the film and music competition Moosic Lab in 2017, including the runner up Grand Prix for her film Please don’t go anywhere. Her 21st Century Girl feature was I wanna be your cat, an exploration of hidden desires.
Takeuchi Lisa
With eight-plus titles on her portfolio already, 28-year-old Takeuchi is one of the most prominent rising stars in the new generation of Japanese cinema. Her 2014 debut film Michiteiku, a story about an athlete schoolgirl who hides an odd fetish, won several awards at film competitions, forming Takeuchi’s path to fame at a fast pace. After returning to graduate school to complete her film studies, Takeuchi directed and wrote the script for several more successful titles, among which Follow (2016), Synchronizer (2017), and Mirror, her 21st Century Girl‘s entry about a photographer and a former flame’s peculiar relationship.
Natsuto Aimi
Perhaps the only name on this list which has stretched her arms into the music, acting, and directing industries, Natsuto’s career is as versatile as her film themes are. Natsuto studied music composition at college but debuted as an actress in Takuya Misawa’s 2014 movie Chigasaki Story, an internationally acclaimed film that has won several awards. Natsuto debuted as a director with her short film Spring-ing, which she filmed for 21st Century Girl, in which she explores a love triangle flourishing amid the short-lived season of cherry blossoms. Her first long feature film as a director is titled Hamabe’s Game (2019).
Higashi Kanae
Higashi Kanae comes from a professional fashion background, which explains her theme in 21st Century Girl‘s short film Out of Fashion, a story of a charismatic model who faces crossroads. But while Higashi’s directing skills are undoubtful, her main strength lies in the fashion and design business, where she has established a solid presence. Born in Fukuoka in 1989, Higashi established her fashion brand Rurumu in 2009, and has since continued to work hand-in-hand in fashion and film through art directing, costume design, and actors styling. In 2015, she directed her first short film, Heavy Shabby Girl, followed by The End of Anthem (2017) and My doll filter (2017).
Fukuda Momoko
Movie director, screenwriter, and novelist, Fukuda Momoko is another versatile talent on our list whose work can not be limited to a single definition. Born in Osaka in 1991, Fukuda launched her movie career with her graduation film Goodbye Mother, which instantly won critics’ approval and was screened at a number of domestic film festivals. In 2015, she released another short film My father’s wedding, which was equally well accepted. In 2016, she debuted as a novelist with her first novel En for which she won a literary award. Her 21st Century Girl entry, Sex-less, Sex-friends, follows the lives of two friends who struggle to define their relationship. Her latest film and novel, My Father, the Bride released in 2019, is a heartwarming story of a family that tries to get their heads around the odd transformation of their father who has become their mother.
Matsumoto Hana
An actress, director, screenwriter, and film editor, Matsumoto Hana launched her career in film as a child and began making movies as early as in junior high school. A former child actress, Matsumoto has starred in over 30 movies, TV series, commercials, and music videos, and has directed just as many. Among her most memorable on-screen appearances are the horror Juon: Black Ghost (2009) and Mikihiro Endo’s Friends (2013). Her debut film A midsummer dream, a coming-of-age drama, was screened at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in 2015, instantly gaining popularity. The success was followed by her next film, Dadadada seventeen, a year later, which further won multiple awards, establishing Matsumoto as one of Japan’s top aspiring directors of her generation. Her 21st Century Girl short Low Resolution, High Emotion is a nostalgic record of the memories of a long lost lover.
Yasukawa Yuka
Winner of the annual Japanese Professional Movie Awards’ Best New Director Award in 2015, Osaka-born Yasukawa Yuka debuted as director in 2012 with the horror-drama-Sci-fi film Dressing Up, which earned her the 2015 award. Following her initial success, Yasukawa continued working on multiple works, most of which short movies, including Muse, the story of a male writer and a female photographer who share the same muse, which Yasukawa submitted for 21st Century Girl.
Yamanaka Yoko
Born in 1997 in Nagano Prefecture to a family with a strict upbringing, Yamanaka wasn’t allowed to watch movies or read comics as a child. But when a teacher recommended several movies to her in high school, she became so captivated that she quit the badminton club “to watch movies”. It was around that time that she became determined to walk the road of filmmaking for a living. She began enrolled at a film course in college, but quit before graduation, spending a year “doing nothing”. But apparently, it was this time of self-search that inspired the creation of her debut work Amiko, which she made from scratch, even recruiting staff and crew through social media. The movie brought Yamanaka a huge success, winning her the Pia Film Festival 2017’s Audience Award and a ticket to a number of international film festivals across the globe. Her 21st Century Girl‘s entry Anytime, anywhere follows the lives of the women of a Chinese restaurant – a real restaurant where Yamanaka used to work part-time.
Kaneko Yurina
A winner of multiple awards and movie critics’ praise, director Kaneko Yurina has an impressive career despite being – surprisingly – still a college student. Born in 1995 in Tokyo, but currently based in Kyoto, Kaneko has worked on various music videos and films, while also acting as an inspiration to other young moviemakers by setting up independent movie film festivals and participating in various competitions. Her latest release, Nemuru mushi (Sleeping Insect), won the Grand Prix at Moosic Lab 2019. In her short film Projection in 21st Century Girl Kaneko switches roles with her audience and becomes the one who’s photographed and filmed for a change.
Tamagawa Sakura The talent behind 21st Century Girl‘s only animated entry, Tamagawa Sakura is a Hokkaido-native illustrator born in 1985. After coming to Tokyo to pursue a better career, she began working at a local firm, while continuing to draw and hold private exhibitions in her free time. 21st Century Girl is Tamagawa’s first large scale work.
Cast & Crew
Director: Yamato Yūki, Igashi Aya, Eda Yūka, Katō Ayaka, Sakamoto Yukari, Shutō Rin, Takeuchi Lisa, Natsuto Aimi, Higashi Kanae, Fukuda Momoko, Matsumoto Hana, Yasukawa Yuka, Yamanaka Yoko, Kaneko Yurina, Tamagawa Sakura
Music: Hara Yuki, Ohmori Seiko, Takumi Hidetoshi
Costume Design: Sōen
Cast: Hashimoto Ai, Asakura Aki, Ishibashi Shizuka, Ito Sairi, Karata Erika, Kitaura Ayu, Kinoshita Akari, Kurashima Sara, Kurokawa Mei, Takiuchi Kumi, Hinami Kyoko, Hori Haruna, Matsui Rena, Miura Tōko, Motola Serena, Yamada Anna, Asakura Koki, Iiguchi Miho, Ibuki Natsumi, Okawara Megumi, Ōshita Hiroto, Ogawa An, Ono Karin, Kamio Tenko, Kawagoishi Syunpei, Kiguchi Kenta, Kubo Haruka, Kobayashi Ryoko, Koyanagi Yū, Sasaki Shiho, Shiho, Shimizu Kurumi, Sugino Kiki, Sudo Ren, Takeuchi Momoko, Taketani Kimio, Tanaka Ippei, Tsutsui Nodoka, Teshima Miyū, Doi Shiori, Nakamura Yuri, Hirai Amon, Fukushima Juri, Fujiwara Ryusuke, Furukawa Kotone, Hosoda Yoshihiko, Honma Atsushi, Matsubayashi Urara, Minami Kaho, Minami Sara, Miyamoto Yuko, Murakami Jun, Moriya Koji, Yanagi Elisa, Yukkyun, Lee Yoko
Producer: Yamato Yūki
Production: Eiga 24ku, Wa Entertainment
Language: Japanese
Colouration: Colour
