★ 2026 Tokyo International Film Festival - Competition
Year: 2026
Genre: Drama/Fantasy/Family

Synopsis
In a small village devastated by a past storm, an elderly woman named Tae lives alone, selling grilled dumplings. Her life follows a quiet, repetitive routine, as if time itself has come to a standstill. One night, Tae discovers a strange creature in the mountains and brings it home, naming it Haru. Haru eats only the dumplings Tae makes by hand. Awkward yet gentle, Haru’s presence gives Tae a renewed sense of purpose. However, the village cannot accept what it does not understand. Rumors of a monster called “UWAN” spread, and fear takes hold. Haru is branded a harbinger of disaster, while Tae is deemed mentally unstable and forcibly hospitalized. Caught between rigid institutions and superstition, Tae struggles to protect Haru. Finally, she stages a grand fake funeral, allowing Haru to escape the village’s fear. As another storm approaches, Tae realizes that love is not about possession, but about letting go.

Director / IKEDA AKIRA
Executive Producers / OSAKA FUMIKO, ARTHUR CHU, ODAGIRI JOE, JENNIFER JAO
Screenwriter / IKEDA AKIRA
Director of Photography / IKEDA NAOYA, WONTE CHEN
Production Designer / MASKUN
Key Cast / YO KIMIKO, ODAGIRI JOE, SHIRAISHI SHUNYA, 庹宗華 CHUNG-HUA TOU, 劉冠廷 KUAN-TING LIU

Production Company / Shimensoka Co., Oxygen Films
International Sales / Hope Content Marketing Co., Ltd.

Director's Biography
IKEDA Akira is a director and screenwriter who studied art at film school and English literature at university. His feature Anatomy of a Paper Clip (2013) won the Grand Prize at IFFR. Ambiguous Places (2017) screened in the Japanese Cinema Splash section of Tokyo IFF, while The Blue Danube (2020) received the Special Jury Prize at Tokyo FILMeX.

Director’s Statement
Why do we need one another? Or perhaps, what we need does not necessarily have to be another person. We all need something to connect with—an animal, an object, or even a mysterious creature beyond our understanding. We are capable of forming deep emotional bonds with those who share no blood ties with us, and even with beings of an entirely different species. Human love extends far beyond the instinct to reproduce. Perhaps the capacity to love and care for others is something deeply ingrained in both our bodies and our hearts. To me, this is one of the great mysteries of being human, and also one of its most beautiful qualities. Through this film, I hope audiences can experience this mysterious yet beautiful aspect of our humanity, and find something within it that resonates with them.