About

This screening will be introduced by Rosie Hays, Australian Cinémathèque.

Six-year-old Sachiko is living a peaceful existence, with her eccentric family in picturesque, rural Japan. The only thing bothering her is a gigantic yet benevolent doppelgänger who seems to be following her wherever she goes. Along with the thoughtful Sachiko, the film follows her hypnotherapist father, her mother who is attempting to return to her job as an animator, her awkward older brother Hajime and a wildly inventive grandfather who has designs on becoming a pop music icon. Uncle Ayano, played by indie darling Tadanobu Asano, comes to stay in order to put to rest his yearning for an ex-girlfriend who is now married. Katsuhiro Ishii’s playful and enigmatic film is full of magical realist imagery, bonkers characters, and the wistful dreaminess of languid, summer days of childhood.

Ages 18+ | Infrequent stong violence