Ryo USHIMARU 牛丸亮

Qualia

クオリア

Nippon Visions   ½ 

Yuko’s life is no picnic: Her husband Ryosuke, who runs a chicken farm, does not love her, she is constantly bullied by her sister-in-law, and Ryosuke’s mistress claims to carry his child. How long will it take until Yuko’s naive smile fades from her face? Ryo USHIMARU’s directing debut is a biting and ironic take on traditional Japanese family values.

クオリア
Kuoria

Japan 2023

96 minutes

Director
Ryo USHIMARU

Script
Kenzo KAGA based on a play by Yoshitomo OCHI

Cinematography
Tadashi NAGAYAMA

Music
Toruko-Ishi

About Ryo USHIMARU
牛丸亮

Ryo USHIMARU was born in Gifu Prefecture in 1980 and started his career as a model and actor. He starred in such films as THE VOICE OF WATER (2014 / NC ’15) by Masashi YAMAMOTO and LOWLIFE LOVE (2015 / NC ’16) by Eiji UCHIDA, before he directed his own short film SMILE in 2017. His short film TIME TO SHINE (2019) won the Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize at the 48 Hour Film Project. QUALIA (2023 / NC ’24) is his feature-length debut.