Issue:
November 2026 | Film Committee
Join the Film Committee at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, November 11 for a sneak preview of "Earthlings in Love," the latest cinematic provocation from director Shinichiro Ueda, whose ingenious low-budget zombie comedy "One Cut of the Dead" became an international sensation in 2018.
His new film—which has nothing to do with aliens—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 smartphone drama has been restructured into a theatrical feature, bringing a story conceived for handheld viewing to the big screen, but retaining its original format (with some tweaking and enlarging). 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 an audience can be moved even without a widescreen aspect ratio.
The film begins in 2000 in a small seaside town where high school student Shimpei brings together classmates to make his first film. It then jumps to 25 years later when the adult Shimpei has become a film director but is suffering from early-onset dementia. "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 explores just how recorded images can preserve what human memory cannot, and in the process, redefines the very meaning of “cinema.” The director and his star, Shinsuke Kato, will be on hand for the Q&A following the screening. ("Earthlings in Love," Japan, 2026, 102 minutes, Japanese with English subtitles)
