Amiko

Preceded By Nagisa なぎさ

A boy and a girl. They’re classmates. Their poolside conversations during swimming class linger in the boy’s memories. The boy recalls their conversations one by one. This is a story about a boy and a time in his life that he will never forget. 2017, 18 min. Directed by Takeshi Kogahara. New York Premiere.

Feature Slate

U.S. Premiere

Intro and Q&A with director Yoko Yamanaka

16-year-old Amiko is bored by her mundane life as a high schooler in Nagano until she meets Aomi, a classmate on the soccer team who shares her cynical point of view (and love of Radiohead), and develops a major crush. Though she doesn’t speak to him for months, when Aomi suddenly drops out of school and moves to Tokyo with a former student who represents everything she loathes, Amiko takes off after him to make sense of the betrayal. Shot and edited with a bold, unpredictable style that matches its title character’s rebellious playfulness, this invigorating micro-budget debut by 20-year-old director Yoko Yamanaka successfully avoids coming-of-age clichés to offer a wholly original take on the messy contradictions and yearnings of youth.

2017. 66 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Yoko Yamanaka. With Aira Sunohara. Hiroto Oshita. Maiko Mineo. Ayu Hasegawa.

Audience Award and Hikari TV Award, 2018 Pia Film Festival

"Amiko is a condensed ball of manic energy from start to finish."

— The Hollywood Reporter

Healthy Japanese light meals, snacks and festival-related refreshments available for purchase by  .