A HUNDRED FLOWERS (HYAKKA) Discovery

North American Premiere

Screening to be followed by a conversation with director Genki Kawamura.

In this delicate feature debut from director Genki Kawamura, adapted from his own novel, Izumi finds his mother Yuriko wandering in the freezing cold on New Year’s Eve. The aging piano teacher is soon diagnosed with dementia, causing a rift in their already complicated mother-son relationship due to pent up childhood trauma. Yuriko is placed in a care facility, further escalating their fractured bond. While she’s away, Izumi discovers his mother’s old diary and is thrown back into the past and the world of his own memories. With sweeping long takes and a sense of heightened naturalism, Kawamura takes us inside the mind of Yuriko and reveals what the experience of forgetting looks and feels like from her perspective. An intimate meditation on memory, identity and the beauty of reconciliation that won the Silver Shell for Best Director at the 70th San Sebastian International Film Festival. –Julia Kipnis