River Returns| Official Website

Introduction

From writer-director Masakazu Kaneko, known for “Ring Wandering”, which won the Golden Peacock Award (Grand Prix) at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), and Special Mention in Ecumenical Jury Award at the Warsaw International Film Festival (WFF).
“River Returns” is Masakazu’s third feature film. This film tells a beautiful fantasy synopsis about nature, humans, spirits, and tradition.
It won won the Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the 62nd Gijon International Film Festival(FICX).

Synopsis

It’s the late summer of 1958. A boy named Yucha lives in a riverside village that is constantly threatened by typhoons.

He learns the local flood legend, which has long been passed down through the community, from a Kami-Shibai (paper theater) storyteller. Showing an illustrated paper card for each scene of the story, the storyteller tells of a broken-hearted girl who drowned herself in a river pool deep in the mountains. It is said that her grief has been causing great floods every few decades ever since.

A great typhoon is approaching. With childlike curiosity, Yucha sets off for the pool deep in the mountains, which even adults fear, in the hope of stopping the flood and soothing the girl’s sorrow.

Director

Director's Biography

Masakazu Kaneko was born in Tokyo in 1978. He graduated Aoyama Gakuin University. After graduation, he studied under Director Takahisa Zeze at the Film School of Tokyo.

In 2016, his first feature film, "The Albino's Trees", was officially screened in the Forward Future Section of the 6th Beijing International Film Festival, China. It won 20 awards at international film festivals worldwide.

In 2021, his second feature film, "Ring Wandering" had its world premiere at the 37th Warsaw International Film Festival and received the Ecumenical Jury Award, Special Mention. It won the Golden Peacock Award (Grand Prix) at the 52nd International Film Festival of India.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Government of Japan, selected Kaneko as one of the three filmmakers to promote and facilitate Japanese filmmaking internationally, and also as one of the four emerging directors to take part in the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival and the European Film Market on the recommendation of UNIJAPAN.

Filmography

"River Returns" (third feature / 2024 / 108min)

"Ring Wandering" (second feature / 2021 / 103min)

"The Albino's Trees" (first feature / 2016 / 86min)

Director's Statement

A river has always been my favorite subject to shoot. In my mountainous country, filming rivers means filming mountains, the source of water.

In the past, Japan's mountains were home to diverse forest ecosystems. By protecting and coexisting with these ecosystems, people were able to minimize river flooding and benefit from nature's bounty. However, after the wars of the 19th and early 20th centuries and the rapid reconstruction after WWII, the reforestation continued to provide timber, and our energy needs changed from charcoal to petrol. As a result, trees deemed less useful for modern times were felled, and the diversity of the mountains and the mystery they held were lost.

The relationship between nature and human beings, passed down from generation to generation over hundreds and thousands of years, may have been characterized by a deep respect and reverence for “others,” seeking to value the existence of all other beings and even the unseen beings.

In the film, a young boy follows a disappearing tradition in the mountains during the post-war reconstruction period to save his family. He travels up the river, ending up trying to save someone he has never met. His straightforwardness, like a flowing river, will surely purify our hearts and restore our "consideration for others". I hope that this film will be reflected in people’s hearts like a crystal-clear river.

Festivals

*62nd Gijon International Film Festival (Spain), won the Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film

*45th Porto International Film Festival (Portugal), selected for the Official Competitive Section FANTASY FILMS

*2nd Okinawa Pan Pacific International Film Festival (Japan), selected for the Pacific Film Competition

Cast & Crew

Asuka Hanamura, Yo Aoi, Sanetoshi Ariyama, Tomomitsu Adachi, Kinuo Yamada, Yusuke Takahashi, Ryohei Matsuoka, Sayo Ishikawa, Seishi Hiranuma, Tomiichi Hoshino, Keisuke Horibe, Toshie Negishi, Tetsu Watanabe, Ken Yasuda

Directed & Edited by Masakazu Kaneko
Music by Masakatsu Takagi
Original synopsis ‘NAGARAGAWA STAND BY ME 1950’ by Yuhachi Matsuda
Screenplay by Masakazu Kaneko, Genki Yoshimura
Cinematographer Tatsuya Yamada
Art Director Kyoko Heya
Lighting Director Naoto Tamagawa
Sound Recording ＆ Design by Young-Chang Hwang
Assistant Director Kei Tsuchiya
Title Design & Animation Koya Takahashi
Color Grading Takamitsu Hoshiko
Produced by NAGARAGAWA STAND BY ME NO KAI, Project DAWN
Exective Producers Katsuhiko Nakatani, Fusako Sakai
Producers Michio Morioka, Mayumi Fukuhara, Koji Matsumoto, Takeshi Katayama