Sono Onna, Jiruba (2021)

40-year-old Usui Arata had worked as a salesperson for her dream company but right before her marriage, she is betrayed by her fiancée. Not only is her engagement broken off, she is demoted to work at the logistics warehouse in the name of restructuring. Arata’s future is bleak. She has no dream, savings or boyfriend and wonders whether her life will end just like this? This day is her 40th birthday but no one celebrates it with her. The only thing she receives are e-mails from online shopping sites. On her way to the workplace from the company dormitory on a typical dull morning, Arata notices an elderly woman crouching by the side of the road. There is no one in this corner of the city to help her. It feels as if she is seeing herself 40 years later and she instinctively extends a hand to the woman.

Kazumasa NemotoDirector