Small, Slow But Steady

「ケイコ 目を澄ませて」
Keiko, me wo sumasete

Q&A with Sho Miyake. Sho Miyake’s COVID-era boxing drama, loosely based on Keiko Ogasawara’s memoir, is a decidedly subtle expression of athletic perseverance and drive. Hearing-impaired boxer Keiko Ogawa, played with striking resilience by Yukino Kishii, sets foot in the world of professional boxing as the pandemic threatens the closure of her historic gym, headed by the gentle Sasaki (Tomokazu Miura, Typhoon Club), a veteran trainer and chairman of the gym who often joins as a silent companion to Keiko’s training routines. With the warm texture of 16mm photography, Miyake’s understated sports film instills a measured yet subdued stoicism—occupying emotional spaces often intuited by Kishii’s own physicality—one not unlike the film’s own English-language title. A Several Futures Release.

Dir. Sho Miyake, 2022, 99 min., DCP, color. With Yukino Kishii, Tomokazu Miura.

Part of Shiguéhiko Hasumi: Another History of the Movie in America and Japan
Oct 9—18, 2025

© 2022 « KEIKO ME WO SUMASETE » Production Committee & COMME DES CINEMAS

Film programs are generously supported by Anime NYC, ORIX Corporation USA, and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by Jono Abrams and Elizabeth Linn, Ayumi Arafune, Darin Arita and Kanako Arita, Mike Audet, Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Catanzaro, The Globus Family, George P. Hirose, Akiko Koide and Shohei Koide, David Toberisky, Joseph Rajaratnam and Dharshini Iolanthe Sivakumaran, Japan Society Film Council, and other Film supporters.

Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film Program. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film Program.

Japan Society arts and culture programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).