Passage of Life

Feature Slate

North American Premiere

Intro and Q&A with director Akio Fujimoto and co-producer/actor Yuki Kitagawa

Years after fleeing Myanmar and settling in Japan, an undocumented Burmese family faces an uncertain future as their application for political refugee status gets rejected. Khine and her husband Issace debate the dangers of going back to their home country while their Japan-raised sons, 7-year-old Kaung and 5-year-old Htet, struggle to connect with their Burmese identity despite Khine’s attempts to keep them linked through language lessons. Working with a cast of mostly non-actors, whose real-life experiences inform the narrative, first time director Akio Fujimoto constructs a remarkably affecting social realist drama that conveys the emotional stresses and socioeconomic struggles of life as a refugee in Japan with sensitivity, empathy and a documentary-like sense of immediacy.

2017. 99 min. DCP, in Japanese and Burmese with English subtitles. Directed by Akio Fujimoto. With Issace, Htet Myat Naing, Niina Kuromiya, Kaung Myat Thu.

Best Asian Future Film Award, 2017 Tokyo International Film Festival
The Spirit of Asia Award, 2017 Tokyo International Film Festival

"There’s barely a false note in Passage of Life"

— Variety

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