Junji SAKAMOTO 阪本順治

Okiku And The World

せかいのおきく

Nippon Cinema   ª 

The city of Edo in 1858: While the glorious years of the samurai come to an end, two young men work as soil collectors. Though their job is quite smelly, it is because of it that they meet the lovely Okiku, who lives with her destitute father. Junji SAKAMOTO presents a black-and-white period piece that shows Japan’s past as a shitty era in the truest sense of the word, a time in which only love could offer a glimmer of hope.

せかいのおきく
Sekai no Okiku

Japan 2022

90 minutes

Director
Junji SAKAMOTO

Script
Junji SAKAMOTO

Cinematography
Norimichi KASAMATSU

Music
Goro YASUKAWA

About Junji SAKAMOTO
阪本順治

Junji SAKAMOTO was born in Sakai in 1958. He started his career as an assistant director while studying, working with filmmakers like Gakuryu ISHII, among others. His directing debut KNOCKOUT (1989) won a number of newcomer awards. In 2000, his crime drama FACE was also a multi-award-winning box office hit. Nippon Connection has already screened his manga adaptation BOKUNCHI – MY HOUSE (2003 / NC ’04), the comedy THE PROJECTS (2016 / NC ’17), and the drama ANOTHER WORLD (2018 / NC ’19). His film OKIKU AND THE WORLD (2022 / NC ’23) had its world premiere at the 2023 International Film Festival Rotterdam.