The Parting Day [Director: Kazutomo OGATA]

KODANSHA Cinema Creators’ Lab. 3rd winning short film pitch.

Synopsis

Manatsu FUJINO’s life came to a standstill after she lost her beloved Seira in a mountain accident. One night, a crab claiming to be Seira’s reincarnation appears. In a fantastical world where the boundary between reality and dreams dissolves, she is told, “Let’s go and meet God,” and begins to walk once more.

Director’s Statement

A strange encounter that occurs after losing someone dear.

The more love you feel for something, the more you’re tormented by the grief of its loss. Even when the will to live slips away through the gaping hole in your heart, leaving you paralysed, the next morning still arrives. The world keeps turning and waits for no one. This film is a ‘lost time fantasy’ given by God to help us live in such a world.

I believe cinema is capable of expressing things so ambiguous and complex that they cannot be captured by convenient terms like ‘emotional’. This film was born out of my love for the dog we kept at my parents’ house when I was a child. He was always by my side, no matter what, and constantly gave me happiness that money couldn’t buy. Even now, long after he has passed away, he still comes to visit me in my dreams from time to time. In my dreams, for some reason, I forget he is dead and we play together. I wanted to capture that feeling in a film.

Even if we couldn’t understand one another, to meet again, to properly convey the things we couldn’t say, and to savour those precious memories. I’ve painted a poignant fantasy: the idea that simply being able to envision a bright future is enough to make it all worthwhile.

May this film be a source of comfort to those who have lost someone dear to them.

Information ＆ News

・ShortShorts Film Festival & Asia 2026【Selected】