AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING

Miyake Sho’s naturalistic and quietly illuminating film portrays the aimless youth drift towards love and maturity. Emoto Tasuku stars as an unnamed protagonist whose lazy worldview is subtly challenged when his girlfriend, Sachiko, meets his unemployed roommate, Shizuo. Based on a 1982 novel by the late Sato Yasushi, whose writing inspired “Sketches of Kaitan City” (2010) and “The Light Shines Only There” (2014), this unhurried comedy-drama captures the idyllic digressions and restless brooding of youth approaching adulthood. The film was presented at the Berlin International Film Festival 2019, Jeonju International Film Festival 2019, Tokyo International Film Festival 2018 and the Hong Kong International Film Festival 2019. And it was nominated to the Best Film and won the award to the Best Actor at the Kinema Junpo Awards 2019.

Sho Miyake (1984, Sapporo, Japan) is a director and writer. He completed the introductory course in fiction at the Tokyo Film School in 2007. And he is known for “Playback” (2012) and “Wild Tour” (2019).