Issue:
July 2024
Join the Film Committee
Join us on Monday, July 1 at 6 p.m. for a sneak preview of director Hiroshi Okuyama’s captivating sophomore feature, My Sunshine, the only Japanese film selected for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival’s official lineup. When the announcement was made this past April, Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux called him “perhaps the next [Hirokazu] Kore-eda”. Those are lofty shoulders to stand on, particularly when Okuyama’s work is so delicate, so gentle, so exceedingly modest. And yet, few filmmakers have developed such a unique cinematic vision in so short a span—nor stayed so attuned to childhood emotions. My Sunshine is a beautifully shot fable, suffused with a nostalgic glow and infectious charm, that functions much like a memory—hazy, but tinged with longing and remorse. Like Jesus, the debut that earned Okuyama the New Directors’ prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival in 2018, his new work is set in snowy climes, as the first flakes of winter begin to fall. It follows two teens as they practice ice-dance routines after school with a former-champion coach who is intent on entering them in an upcoming competition. As the winter waxes and wanes, and interpersonal dynamics subtly shift, life-defining decisions are made, the snow melts and gradually, the slight narrative acquires a depth that didn’t seem at first possible. Okuyama will be joined by actors Sosuke Ikematsu, Keitatsu Koshiyama and Kiara Nakanishi for the Q&A session. (My Sunshine, Japan, France, 2024, 90 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles.)
Karen Severns is chair of the FCCJ Film Committee
