This week's recommendation Friday, September 6, 2024 New movie "Namibian Desert" / Old movie "Being There"

New film "The Namibian Desert"

©2024 "Namibian Desert" Production Committee

Director Yoko Yamanaka made her own film "Amico" (17) when she was 19 years old. Kawai Yumi watched this film when she was a high school senior and still nobody. Inspired by "Amico", Kawai handed a letter to Director Yamanaka saying "I want to become an actress" and told him "I want to appear in a film someday". This film "The Namibian Desert" was born from this fateful encounter between the two. And in May 2024, "The Namibian Desert" was screened at the Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight and was selected to win the International Federation of Film Critics Award, making Kawai the youngest female director ever to do so.

Friday, September 6th, TOHO Cinemas Hibiya and other theaters nationwide. Distributor: Happinet Phantom Studios

Interviews with the director and actors can be found here

Old movie "Being There"

(c) Photofest / Getty Images

September 8th is Peter Sellers' birthday. His later film Being There(1979) is a satirical comedy about an innocent and ignorant gardener named Being There who is treated like a big shot by the people around him. Sellers, one of the leading British comedians, gives a performance that is one of the best of his life. He skillfully expresses the irony of society by using the restrained acting he has cultivated in comedy films.

Read the review here