August My Heaven

Berlinale Special 2024

Joe earns a living as a professional stand-in actor for hire, playing a relative, lover or friend for her clients and attending celebrations or gatherings. Nanpei works in a Chinese restaurant frequented by Joe and has a crush on her. One day in August, Joe attends a funeral as a substitute mourner and meets Kaoru, a stranger she once saw in a dream. After the funeral, Kaoru visits Nanpei in the restaurant. He used to be Nanpei’s best friend but he has been missing for five years. Moments later, Joe shows up in the restaurant. And thus, an ephemeral journey together begins.

by Riho Kudo
with Yukino Murakami, Shuri Suwa, Takuma Fujie Japan 2024 Japanese 40’ Colour World premiere

With

Yukino Murakami
Shuri Suwa
Takuma Fujie

Crew

Director	Riho Kudo
Screenplay	Riho Kudo
Cinematography	Saki Tanimura
Editing	Mizuki Sako
Music	Soma
Sound Design	Kanshi Iwasaki
Production Design	Mei Yanagi
Costumes	Hiroki Matsui
Producers	Riho Kudo, Hisashi Yamaguchi, Hideyuki Okamoto
Executive Producers	Masanori Yamamoto, Misaki Kawamura

World sales

Nikkatsu Corporation

Produced by

Sunborn

C&I Entertainment

Roadstead

Photos

Riho Kudo

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1995, she studied film production at the Kyoto University of the Arts. In 2018, her graduation film Orphan’s Blues won several prizes at the Pia Film Festival in Tokyo and the Nara International Film Festival. In 2020, a scholarship from the Pia Film Festival supported her in making Let Me Hear It Barefoot. The film went on to screen at international festivals and won the Emerging Director Grand Prix and the award for Best Emerging Actor at the 36th Takasaki Film Festival. In 2023, she directed an episode in the miniseries OZU, a remake of the early silent films by Yasujiro Ozu.

Filmography

2019 Orphan’s Blues 2022 Hadashi de Narashite Misero (Let Me Hear It Barefoot) 2023 OZU: Ozu Yasujiro ga Kaita Monogatari; episode “Woman of Tokyo” 2024 August My Heaven

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024