Special Screenings

River Returns

Screening Schedule

Details

©︎⻑良川スタンドバイミーの会

<Synopsis>

A story of legacy and liberation, woven in a mystical, unspoiled natural world—created entirely without computer-generated imagery.

High upstream of a great river, in a mountain village, lives a boy named Yūcha. His father works in forestry, his mother is bedridden, and he lives with his elderly grandmother. While the land around them remains abundant with nature, the family faces the growing threat of typhoon floods each year, a peril potentially linked to the ongoing deforestation.

As summer winds to a close, a kamishibai (paper theater) performer comes to the village. The village children gather around him and listen while he tells a tragic legend passed down through the generations: the tale of Oba, a young girl from the village, and Saku, a young woodworker from the mountains. Their love was doomed. Crushed by her unrequited feelings, Oba waded into a deep pool in the remote mountains and drowned. It is said that from that time on, a terrible flood occurs every few decades, as if her tears were overflowing.

The story strikes a deep and mysterious chord with Yūcha. Seeing a connection to his own life, he resolves to prevent the floods that threaten his family and to free Oba’s soul from its eternal sorrow. Following the clues of the ancient legend, he sets out upstream on a journey to the deep pool in the heart of the mountains…

<Staff>

Music: TAKAGI Masakatsu
Co-Screenplay: YOSHIMURA Genki
Art Director: HEYA Kyoko
Cinematography: YAMADA Tatsuya
Lighting: TAMAGAWA Naoto
Sound: Huang Yong-Chang
Stylist: NOGUCHI Yoshihito
Hair & Makeup: KAMATA Eiko, YAMASHITA Nami
Assistant Director: TSUCHIYA Kei
Color Grading: HOSHIKO Takamitsu
Opening Animation: TAKAHASHI Koya
Original Story: MATSUDA Yuhachi (from Nagara River Stand By Me 1950)
Executive Producers: NAKATANI Katsuhiko and SAKAI Kyoko
Planning & Production: MORIOKA Michio and FUKUHARA Mayumi
Producers: MATSUMOTO Koji and KATAYAMA Takeshi

<movie information>

Year of Production:2024
Running Time:108min
Country/Region:Japan
Language of Dialogue:Japanese
Subtitle Language:English
Film Rating:General (All Ages)

©︎金子雅和

＜Director＞

KANEKO Masakazu

Born in Tokyo in 1978, KANEKO Masakazu is a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University’s Faculty of International Politics, Economics and Business. After university, he studied under director ZEZE Takihisa at the Film School of Tokyo and directed six short films while working as a corporate VP and in commercial production.

His feature debut, The Albino’s Trees (2016), had its international premiere at the 6th Beijing International Film Festival and was released theatrically in Japan. The film went on to win 20 international awards.

His second feature, Ring Wandering (2021), starring KASAMATSU Sho, ABE Junko, and YASUDA Ken, premiered at the 37th Warsaw International Film Festival, where it received the Ecumenical Jury Special Mention. It later won the top Golden Peacock Award at the 52nd International Film Festival of India and the Best Screenplay award at the 43rd Durban International Film Festival. The film enjoyed a long theatrical run across Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Parallel to this release, KANEKO developed his next project, “Suiko” (The Water Tiger). A pilot version was produced at Shochiku Kyoto Studios and screened at the 34th Tokyo International Film Festival. In 2021, he was selected by the Japan Arts Council for its “Film Overseas Expansion Enhancement” program and was chosen by UNIJAPAN as one of four emerging directors to participate in the Berlin International Film Festival and its European Film Market.

His third feature, River Returns (2024), has continued his award-winning trajectory, securing the Youth Jury Award at the 62nd Gijón International Film Festival and the Orient Express Grand Prize at the 45th Fantasporto.