Not Born Yesterday
きのう生まれたわけじゃない
DIRECTED BY FUKUMA Kenji
RUNTIME 86 minutes
International Premiere
Virtual Screening
Available to stream
November 14 @ midnight CST to
November 24 @ 11:59 pm CST
Across the U.S
Synopsis
Nanami, a second-year middle school student, lives with her mother. Her father left long ago. One day, she meets Misaki, a woman who recently lost her husband, by the river, and they form a bond. Terada, a 77-year-old former sailor, struggles with memories of his late wife. He meets Nanami at the "Resting Bench," and the two start spending time together. Nanami surprises Terada with her ability to read people’s hearts, and she realizes Misaki reminds him of his lost love. That night, Terada’s late wife appears and tells him, "To connect with others, you must understand the unknown and enter a new world."
Film Credits
PRODUCERS FUKUMA Keiko
SCREENWRITER FUKUMA Kenji
EDITOR KAWAKAMI Takuya
CINEMATOGRAPHER YAMAMOTO Ryuji
PRINCIPAL CAST Kurumi, FUKUMA Kenji, MASAKI Sawa, ABE Tomori, MORIYA Fumio, KABURAGI Kotaro, SUMIMOTO Naoko, TANIGAWA Toshiyuki, KOHARA Saori, IMAIZUMI Koichi
PRODUCTION DESIGN SUMIMOTO Naoko
SOUND KAWAKAMI Takuya
MUSIC eddie marcon
PRODUCTION COMPANY tough mama
RELEASE YEAR 2023
Dir. FUKUMA Kenji
(1947 - 2023)
Director's Note from the film's development stage
Right now, many people, especially the elderly and young boys and girls in vulnerable positions, have lost their way in life. They can’t find a clear path forward or see what to do next. However, by meeting others, receiving something from them, and giving something in return, people can find small sparks of hope. Through a story set in the suburbs of Tokyo, a tale that could be set in either the near past or the near future, I want to convey this theme, while also exploring a new form of cinematic expression that breaks through old boundaries. I hope to create a "dialogue" that invites people into this experience.
Production Note for Not Born Yesterday By FUKUMA Keiko (Producer of this film)
The Beginning of the Film - "I'm Not a Child Anymore"
In late August 2022, Director Kenji Fukuma and I spent two weeks in Sapporo, combining location scouting for future films with a summer vacation. This journey harked back to 2017, when we started working on a project in Tokachi, Hokkaido. After a month of scouting and interviews, the script was completed the following year, and preparations for filming in August were underway. However, several issues with the producer led to the project's cancellation in April, which was frustrating. Most of the cast and crew had already been decided, so we shifted focus to Tokyo and rewrote the script, resulting in Paradise Lost in 2020…
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