A Film by Masahiro Kobayashi
35mm – 1,66 – color – mono – 82min – Japan
© MONKEY TOWN PRODUCTIONS

Synopsis
Yuko is back in Japan after being freed as a hostage in the Middle East.But six months after, her return is proving to be much more of anordeal. It seems the whole of Japanese society is against her after being embarrassed and horrified at the international attention she received. Yuko is ≪bashed≫ every day by insults in the street,anonymous phone calls and even physical violence.Fired from her job, her isolation from the outside world deepens along with her despair.After losing her only supporter -her father – she begins to think theunthinkable: to return to the only place where the expressions onpeople’s faces aren’t cold or filled with anger, to the only place she has ever felt needed.While buying Japanese sweets for the Middle Eastern children she allows herself a secret little smile.

Crew:
Screenplay: Masahiro Kobayashi
Cinematographer: Koichi Saito
Lighting: Yasushi Hanamura
Sound:design:Tatsuo Yokoyama
Editor: Naoki Kaneko

Cast:
Yuko: Fusako Urabe
her father: Ryuzo Tanaka
her lover: Takayuki Kato
the father’s boss: Kikujiro Honda
the hotel owner: Teruyuki Kagawa
the stepmother: Nene Otsuka

Festivals:
Festival de Cannes “Competition”- Official Selection 2005
Filmfest Hamburg
Vancouver International Film festival
Oslo Film From the South Festival
Viennale International Film Festival
Tokyo FILMex　★“Grand Prize”
New Delhi International Film Festival
Bratislava International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film festival
Fajr International Film festival　★”Special July Prize”
Geneve Black Movie
New York Lincoln Center-Comment Selects
Mexico FICCO
New York BAM Cinemateque
Singapore International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival

Production:
Monkey Town Productions

World Sales:
Celluloid Dreams
2, rue Turgot 75009 Paris