Demolition Girl

Feature Slate

East Coast Premiere

Q&A with director Genta Matsugami and star Aya Kitai

High school teen Cocoa (Aya Kitai) supports her gambling addict father and deadbeat brother with a part-time job selling sausages and secret work as a video fetish performer. Initially resigned to her small town life of limited possibilities and economic struggle, when the unexpected prospect of going to a Tokyo university is introduced, Cocoa suddenly sees a way out. Winner of the JAPAN CUTS Award at the 2019 Osaka Asian Film Festival, this original spin on a high school coming-of-age story by newcomer Genta Matsugami resists easy moralizing and overt sentimentality while celebrating the power of resilience and self-determination.

2018. 88 min. Directed by Genta Matsugami. With Aya Kitai, Hiroki Ino, Haruka Imou, Yura Komuro.