Metrograph

Newly arrived in Tokyo for university from the chilly Hokkaido countryside, shy Uzuki (pop singer Takako Matsu, in her first leading role) is faced with settling into a foreign environment, forming friendships, and negotiating everything that comes with a first crush. “Handcrafted to the extent that Iwai designed the tickets and carted 35mm prints to theaters. On the surface, an hour-long movie about a young woman moving to a new town to start university is pretty thin. On the other hand, if it’s so thin, why do you finish the film feeling like someone’s injected helium into your soul? Sometimes happy is harder than sad, and April Story manages to capture the unconquerable optimism of youth on celluloid, ready and waiting to be tasted any time you need it.” —Film Comment

Distributor: Rockwell Eyes

Q&A with director Shunji Iwai on Sunday, June 7th