Masuda Shogo

東村山8ミリ劇場／男心女心

This director is the worst and the best. The protagonist, Wakaizumi, makes films with his university friends, but despite being a director, he has no credibility at all due to his selfish and unprincipled nature. He has no finished films. All they have are rumours that he is a strong fighter and that he has eaten cockroaches. Wakaizumi says he wants reality in his films, but he does not know what reality is. Days seem to be unchanging. But as much as something about him hurts people, something about him attracts them, and the filmmaking continues. The well-crafted double structure in terms of composition, direction and camerawork goes beyond the framework of a self-proclaimed 'personal history film' and gives us the best of both worlds: fiction and non-fiction.

生活

If you're crying alone today, may you laugh with someone tomorrow? It's the end of November and Ayumi, a fourth-year university student hasn't received a job offer. She meets her childhood friend, Chiharu, at a company interview as the last chance. She tells her that their mutual friend Iwata is in a mental hospital. Ayumi is disappointed to hear that her boyfriend Takuya, who lives with her, is working at the end of the year and beginning of the new year, but she receives the results of the exam. Meanwhile, Chiharu gives Iwata a sketchbook that she was given before she was hospitalised, with a gift in return. It's not all good, but it's not all bad either. The film is a series of episodes that subtly capture the reality of life. The film digests a timely topic without losing its newsworthiness and makes it a film that everyone can relate to.