Asian Pop-Up Cinema | THE DRY SPELL 渇水 | Japan

DIRECTOR: Masaya Takahashi

SCREENWRITER: Shotaro Oikawa

STARRING: Toma Ikuta, Machiko Ono, Hayato Isomura

FILM SOURCE: Kadokawa Corporation

SYNOPSIS:

The story centers around a municipal government waterworks official, Iwakiri (played by Toma Ikuta), whose job is to shut off the water supply to households that are in arrears with payments. One drought-parched summer’s day, when water supply restrictions are in place, Iwakiri encounters two neglected young girls abandoned at home. With the electricity and gas supplies already shut off, Iwakiri must decide whether to cut off the water as well, but he finds himself torn between duty and conscience.

Though THE DRY SPELL is based on Mitsuru Kawabayashi’s same-named novel published three decades ago, it deals with surprisingly contemporary issues: child poverty, the income divide and parental neglect. It took 10 years for the director to complete the 16mm film project since its inception, but he managed to bring together some of the country’s top dramatic actors. “I thought it would end up being just for the cultural elite if I made it with a theme like this but failed to build a great cast to attract audience members,” he said.

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ABOUT ASIAN POP-UP CINEMA

Presented by Sophia’s Choice, Asian Pop-Up Cinema (亞洲躍動電影展) (APUC), is a bi-annual Asian film festival in Chicago, providing a platform for specially curated Asian films in their original languages with English subtitles.

IMPORTANT TICKET INFORMATION

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Doors open 30 minutes prior to showtimes.

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