When Memories Fade, Can a Movie Keep Love Alive?
Sneak Preview Screening: "Earthlings in Love" (Koisuru Chikyujin - Gekijo Tokubetsuban)
followed by a Q&A with director Shinichiro Ueda and actor Shinsuke Kato
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 at 6:00 pm
In Japanese with English subtitles
Japan 2026 102 minutes
Written and directed by: Shinichiro Ueda
Produced by: Nobuhiro Suzuki
Cinematography: Shuhei Yamamoto
Starring: Shinsuke Kato, Yaeko Kiyose, Go Kikuchi,
Yoshitaka Hosokawa, Ryo Ikeda, Ibuki Suzuse, Kono Adachi
Film courtesy of Nakachika
What happens when a filmmaker begins to lose his memories, but the images he has captured remain? In "Earthlings in Love," director Shinichiro Ueda, whose ingenious low-budget zombie comedy "One Cut of the Dead" became an international sensation, explores the fragile connections between memory, love and filmmaking itself. Originally created as a 30-episode "vertical" series that attracted more than 60 million views on social media, the episodic smartphone drama has been restructured into a theatrical feature, bringing a story conceived for handheld viewing to the big screen.
While Ueda's experiment with cinematic form may not convince everyone that verticals are the future of film projection (and not just the TikTok generation's format of choice), "Earthlings in Love" demonstrates that a strong story can move an audience even without a widescreen aspect ratio.
The film version begins in 2000 in a small seaside town, where high school student Shimpei brings together classmates to make his first film. He persuades Mai, the girl he secretly loves, to play the heroine, turning his youthful romantic aspirations into a creative endeavor. Twenty-five years later, Shimpei (Kato, of "Ken and Kazu") has become a film director, but his life has taken an unexpected turn: he is suffering from early-onset dementia. As his memories gradually slip away, the films he made become records of the people, experiences and emotions that shaped his life.
"Earthlings in Love" touchingly probes the paradox of an artist who can capture memorable moments on his camera even as his own recollections begin to disappear. With Ueda's trademark humor and pathos, the film reunites the cast and crew of the unfinished high-school production, exploring just how recorded images can preserve what human memory cannot, and in the process, redefining the very meaning of "cinema."
Please join us for this sneak preview of "Earthlings in Love" before the Japan release on December 11, followed by a discussion of the film's unusual journey from social media to big screen and the challenges of storytelling across different formats.
For more (in Japanese): https://nakachikapictures.com/koisuru-chikyujin/
SHINICHIRO UEDA began making independent films while still in junior high school. He achieved international recognition with his feature debut "One Cut of the Dead" (2018), a wildly inventive zombie comedy made on a shoestring budget that became one of Japan's most profitable indie-film success stories, as well as being remade in France, Vietnam and Hollywood. His vertical short film "Rental Subordinates" won the Grand Prix in the TikTok Short Film Competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. He has continued his feature-film exploration of unconventional storytelling with "Aesop's Game" (2019), "Special Actors" (2019), "Popuran" (2022) and "Angry Squad" (2024).
SHINSUKE KATO is active across independent cinema, mainstream films, TV, streaming media and theater, appearing in work by non-Japanese filmmakers and known internationally for his creation of memorable characters. He made his widely heralded debut with "Ken and Kazu" (2016), and went on to appear in Bernard Rose's "Samurai Marathon" (2019), Arthur Harari's "Onoda" (2021), Yusuke Okuda's "Somebody's Flowers" (2022), Kei Ishikawa's "A Man" (2023), Tatsuya Mori's "September 1923" (2023), Keisuke Yoshida's "Missing" (2024), Daihachi Yoshida's "Teki Cometh" (2025) and Takahisa Zeze's "Mirai" (2026), among others.
Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk 03 3211-3161 or register online.
All film screenings are private, noncommercial events primarily for FCCJ members and their guests.
- Karen Severns, Film Committee