Chie Hayakawa (Plan 75, VIFF 2022) returns with a beguiling, bravely personal portrait of childhood. It’s 1987, and Fuki (Yui Suzuki) is 11 years old. She approaches the world around her with a beguiling mixture of calm and curiosity, taking her father’s cancer, her mother’s abrasive coldness, the prospect of death, and even an adult’s predatory advances in stride. As the film progresses, Yuki develops an interest in the occult, calls an adult dating line, and acquires a portrait by the titular French painter. The storytelling is episodic, but the suspense is constant: How will life shape this girl as she grows toward adolescence?
Renoir features the great Lily Franky as Keiji, the dying patriarch, but no one gives a better performance than young Suzuki — placid but supremely courageous, her Fuki carries an aspect of mystery even as she stays disarmingly forthright. Her serenity is matched by that of Hayakawa, who directs with a confidence and clarity that are wonderful to behold.
Supported by
Yui Suzuki, Lily Franky, Hikari Ishida, Ayumi Nakajima, Yuumi Kawai, Ryota Bando
Japan/France/Singapore/
Philippines/Indonesia/Qatar
2025
Japanese
At SFU Woodwards & International Village
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Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Keisuke Konishi, Eiko Mizuno-Gray, Mizue Kunizane, Masahide Kinoshita, Eitaro Kobayashi, Jossette C. Atayde, Maria Sophia Atayde-Marudo, Fran Borgia
Producer
Eiko Mizuno-Gray, Jason Gray, Keisuke Konishi, Christophe Bruncher, Fran Borgia
Screenwriter
Chie Hayakawa
Cinematography
Hideho Urata
Editor
Anne Klotz
Production Design
Keiko Mitsumatsu
Original Music
Rémi Boubal
Chie Hayakawa 早川千絵
Chie Hayakawa was born in Tokyo and studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her short film Plan 75 was the opening segment of anthology feature Ten Years Japan (2018), executive produced by Hirokazu Kore-eda, and later expanded into a feature of the same name. Plan 75 (2022) debuted in the Un Certain Regard program at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Caméra d’Or Special Mention, before screening at over 30 international film festivals including Thessaloniki, where Hayakawa was awarded Best Director.
Filmography: Niagara (2013); Plan 75 (2022)
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