His Lost Name

Feature Slate

New York Premiere

Q&A with director Nanako Hirose

A small-town carpenter named Tetsuro (Kaoru Kobayashi) happens upon an unconscious young man (Yuya Yagira) on a riverbank who eventually says his name is Shinichi. The middle-aged widower sympathetically takes Shinichi in, offering a room in his home and apprenticeship in his woodshop. Before long, the pair soon develop a father-son dynamic—forcing Tetsuro’s other carpenters and patient fiancé (Keiko Horiuchi) to adjust to the strange new situation—though long-held secrets threaten to undo everything. A protégé of Hirokazu Kore-eda and Miwa Nishikawa, director Nanako Hirose masterfully reveals the fictions that keep us together and lies that tear us apart in this sensitive debut drama.

2019. 113 min. Directed by Nanako Hirose. With Yuya Yagira, Kaoru Kobayashi, Keiko Horiuchi, Young Dais.

Special Mention, 19th TOKYO FILMeX Awards