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Special Screenings

Along the Sea

海辺の彼女たち

Director: FUJIMOTO Akio (藤元明緒)

2020|Japan, Vietnam|88min|Language: Vietnamese, Japanese|Subtitles: English, Japanese

Date Time Venue
3/9 Tue 16:20 Cine Libre Umeda 3
Along the Sea
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Cast
HOANG Phuong
HUYNH Tuyet Anh
QUYNH Nhu
Synopsis

Phuong (HOANG Phuong), An (HUYNH Tuyet Anh), and Nhu (QUYNH Nhu) are Vietnamese young women who travelled to Japan to work on the technical trainee program. What they found was exploitation which they escaped, minus their documents, which means they will become illegal residents in Japan and so they have to be careful. Their luck seems to turn when they get better-paying work supporting fishermen in a snowy port town and some semblance of happiness returns to their lives. However, when Phuong suddenly suffers stomach pains, it sets in motion another trial for the women, particularly Phuong whose health hangs in the balance.

FUJIMOTO’s second film about migrant workers is a rich follow-up to “Passage of Life” (2017). An enthralling experience, it marries documentary realism with an effective dramatic structure and moving performances that takes viewers into the intimate world of these characters, showing their complex everyday lives and their vital relationship whilst in a precarious position and teases out a myriad of emotions, both good and bad, with an ever-beautiful landscape around them that channels their feelings.

[Jason MAHER]

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