**Winner: Silver Lion (Best Director) – Venice Film Festival**

Opens Friday, October 22, 2021 Across Canada!

Master filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa, best known for his contribution to the Japanese horror genre, (Pulse, Cure, Tokyo Sonata) won the Silver Lion (Best Director) at the Venice Film Festival for this riveting, gorgeously crafted, old-school Hitchockian thriller!

The year is 1940 in Kobe, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. Local merchant and amateur filmmaker Yusaku (Issey Takahashi, Kill Bill) senses that things are headed in an unsettling direction. Following a trip to Manchuria, he becomes determined to bring to light the things he witnessed there, and secretly filmed. Meanwhile, his wife Satoko (Japan Society’s 2021 Honoree Yû Aoi) receives a visit from her childhood friend, now a military policeman. He warns her about Yusaku’s seditious ways and reveals that a woman her husband brought back from his trip has died. Satoko confronts Yusaku, but when she discovers his true intentions, she is torn between loyalty to her husband, the life they have built, and the country they call home.

Director’s Statement:
Set in Japan’s war-torn rural countryside, this film depicts a couple’s struggle to overcome distrust and stay faithful to their love. This is my first period film. With a timeline of fixed historical events, I pondered how conflicted people must have felt when they thought of the future.

About The War
This film is not about the war. It serves as the backdrop for this story and acknowledges the acts of ruthless violence Japan has committed on foreign soil. The two protagonists battle with their emotions as they cry over this revelation, which leads them to make a life-changing decision.

Running time: 115 minutes
Japanese with English subtitles
Trailer, press notes, hi-res photos

Scotiabank Theatre - Cineplex (Toronto, ON) Starts - October 22, 2021
Vancity (Vancouver, BC) Starts - October 22, 2021
Bytowne Cinema (Ottawa, ON) Starts - October 22, 2021
Princess Theatre - Rainbow Cinemas (Edmonton, AB) Starts - October 22, 2021
Rainbow Cinemas Golden Mile (Regina, SK) Starts - October 22, 2021

City Cinema (Charlottetown, PEI) Starts - October 25, 2021
Sudbury Indie Cinema (Sudbury, ON) Starts - October 28, 2021
Roxy (Saskatoon, SK) Starts - October 29, 2021
First Ontario Place Performing Arts Centre/ PAC Film House (St. Catharines, ON) Starts - November 6, 2021
Rio Theatre (Vancouver, BC) Starts - November 7, 2021

Media Contact
Virginia Kelly
V Kelly & Associates