two of us / Long-Term Coffee Break

This screening features two short films.

『ふたり』

Risa Negishi’s lucid short tells the story of best friends Yui and Hana, living in various stages of loneliness as they cope with family estrangements and lost relationships. Told in a fragmented, nonlinear style, two of us focuses largely on Yui’s relationship with her niece Karin, whose father is seemingly absent from both their lives. Negishi’s short provides snapshots of two women enduring emotional hardships while leaning on one another, and features dreamy, experimental photography and editing.

Dir. ​​Risa Negishi, 2019, 47 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Meirin, Manami Usamaru, Shohei Yamashita.

『Long-Term Coffee Break』

In just 30 minutes, Naoya Fujita’s Long-Term Coffee Break captures a relationship in snapshots. Yuko (Mina Fujii) is in the midst of a successful career when she meets Naoki (Hiroki Sano), a spontaneous and aloof actor, and the two hit it off over coffee–his love of it and her disinterest in it–and get married. Over the course of Fujita’s film we see glimpses of regret, infidelity and impulsivity, all in the name of love. Shifting from sweet to bitter at a moment’s notice, Long-Term Coffee Break is a modern romance in brief, and a promising work from Fujita.

Dir. Naoya Fujita, 2022, 30 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mina Fujii, Hiroki Sano, Mayuko Fukuda. 

Followed by a post-screening discussion and Q&A with directors Negishi and Fujita.

Part of the ACA Cinema Project, The Female Gaze: Women Filmmakers from JAPAN CUTS and Beyond
November 11—20, 2022

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Image: two of us © Risa Negishi; Long-Term Coffee Break © 2022 VIPO

ACA Cinema Project, The Female Gaze: Women Filmmakers from JAPAN CUTS and Beyond is Co-presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan.

Lead Sponsor

Japan Society programs are made possible by leadership support from Booth Ferris Foundation and Shiseido Americas. Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and endowment support from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, David Toberisky, Akiko Koide and Shohei Koide, Geoff and Fumi Matters, Laurel Gonsalves, and David S. Howe. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the exclusive Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film.