Memorizu

A sensual meditation on the power of memory. Winner of the Best New Director Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Yuta has to leave his wife Yuki and their young daughter Hana for two months while he visits his father-in-law Makoto, who lives on Kyūshū, the southernmost of Japan’s main islands. His daily routine with the old man and the solitude of nature as he takes Makoto’s dog out for walks inspire a new sense of harmony in Yuta. He helps out at Makoto’s photography shop, which still develops analog Kodak film. Meanwhile, back home in Tokyo, Yuki works as a tour guide and takes photographs of the people she leads through the city every day. Through this small parallel, the film explores the ways that we try to preserve bonds with other people and hold on to fleeting moments forever. And, like in every other family, here too there is someone who exists only in photographs.

Director