Nagidaiari

In rural Nagi, silence is never complete: distant blasts from a military base punctuate the quiet of everyday life, hinting at the hidden emotional fault lines that lie beneath. With understated grace, Koji Fukada sketches an affecting tale of connection, fragile family bonds and artistic freedom. Yuri, an architect recovering from divorce, visits her former sister-in-law Yoriko, who has withdrawn from city life to work on a farm and make wood sculptures. As Yuri poses for her, the two women gradually reconnect, with the act of creation allowing them to find a way back to themselves and to each other. A parallel story follows two teenage boys tentatively confronting feelings which their conservative environment struggles to accept. Fukada’s finely crafted screenplay unfolds with the patience of life itself, allowing glances, gestures and pauses to accumulate and build emotional weight. Ishibashi Shizuka gives Yuri a guarded vulnerability, while Matsu Takako lends Yoriko a serenity shadowed by unfulfilled desire. Long takes, austere compositions and soft natural light turn Nagi into a landscape where tenderness and unease coexist. Quietly attuned to the pressures shaping contemporary Japan, NAGIDAIARI finds its strength in the precision of its gaze. (Maria Giovanna Vagenas)

Fukada Koji: HUMAN COMEDY IN TOKYO (2009), HOSPITALITY (2010), AU REVOIR L’ÉTÉ (2013), SAYONARA (2015), HARMONIUM (2016), THE MAN FROM THE SEA (2018), A GIRL MISSING (2019), THE REAL THING (2020), LOVE LIFE (2022), LOVE ON TRIAL (2025)