The Water Flows to the Sea

In the organizer's words:

水は海に向かって流れる Mizu wa umi ni mukatte nagareru

Director: MAEDA Tetsu
2023, 123 minutes, OmeU, DCP

This adaptation of the award-winning manga of the same name by Rettou Tajima tells the story of a young woman with a closed heart and a high school student who experiences surprising things in a shared house.

To live closer to his school, high school student Naotatsu moves in with his uncle Shigemichi. When he arrives, he is picked up by the reserved Sakaki and taken to his uncle, who lives in a colorful house community. His new life with Sakaki, a professor, a fortune teller, a classmate and a stray cat is chaotic, but also funny. Naotatsu is attracted to Sakaki, who has lost her smile and no longer wants to fall in love. He does not yet know that he is unimaginably connected to this decision and her past.

Film Week
JFF - Japanese Film Festival

In recent years, the Japan Foundation Tokyo has launched several film festivals, which have been offered both as streaming programs and in the form of in-person screenings. Due to their great success, there will be a new edition this year: the JFF - Japanese Film Festival Special World Tour 2024 will present a selection of seven new Japanese films made in the past three years on screens in Germany, Mexico, Peru and Spain. In Germany, all films will be screened at the Japanese Cultural Institute Cologne, while a selection of individual titles will be shown in Hamburg (Kino Metropolis) and Berlin (Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum).

Yoshida Keisuke, who directed BLUE/Burû (BLUE) and Kûhaku (Intolerance), will come to Germany especially for the festival, attend the screenings and hold discussions with the audience. A talk with Florian Höhr from Nippon Connection will take place in Cologne on March 8.

The films present the broad spectrum of current Japanese cinema, including moving dramas, a romantic comedy, mystery, suspense and horror. In Cologne, fans will get their money's worth almost every day, as the screenings will also take place outside the usual weekdays for the first time.

Price information:

Admission free