VISION

The screening will be introduced by director Naomi Kawase.

Director: Naomi Kawase
109 mins, Japan-France, 2018, Colour, Subtitled.

CLOSING FILM

Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival; San Sebastian Film Festival 2018

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Jeanne (Juliette Binoche) a French writer, accompanied by translator Hana travels to the lush but deserted forests of Yoshino in Nara, Japan, in search of a rare and miraculous plant called ‘Vision’. According to legend this plant, which possesses the ability to dispel human weakness, agony and pain, appears only once every 997 years under special conditions. Jeanne stops off for a few days at forest ranger Tomo’s (Masatoshi Nagase) house. For Tomo, Vision is not just a myth, and so he and his mentor Aki (a blind keeper of the forests) join Jeanne in her quest.

Acclaimed Japanese director Naomi Kawase (Suzaku; The Mourning Forest; Still the Water; Radiance) once again sets her film in her native region of Nara, a rural area of one of the ancient capitals of Japan. Composed of stunning imagery, this is a world of subtle visual alchemy opening to lyricism, delicate sensuality, unusual emotions and spiritual quests.

Notes by Marie-Pierre Richard.