An
Sweet Bean
Naomi Kawase
Dorayaki pancakes is the name of the pastry that is so beloved by the Japanese and is filled with a red bean paste (AN). Sentaro, a young ex-alcoholic, runs a small doryaki snack bar in Tokyo, even though he doesn’t like the sweet pancakes. He just can’t manage the bean paste and so business is bad. An old woman, Tokue, offers her help, but Sentaro remains dismissive. Only after tasting her paste does he take her up on her offer. Success is not long in coming and a deep friendship develops between the two. But Sentaro suspects that a dark secret surrounds Tokue.
Naomi Kawase
Naomi Kawase graduated from the Osaka School of Photography, and she works in the area of both fiction and documentary film. She writes the scripts for her often biographical work herself. Personal strokes of fate, intimate family stories and nature feature prominently in her films. Kawase is one of the most respected Japanese directors. In 1997, she was the youngest person in the history of the Cannes Film Festival to win the Camera d’Or with her first feature film Suzaku. Since then, she has received other major international awards, including at IFFF Dortmund+Köln.
Films by Naomi Kawase (Selection)
Vision 2018 | An 2015 | Futatsume no mado 2014 | Chiri 2012 | Hanezu no tsuki 2001 | Genpin 2010 | Mogari no mori 2007 | Tarachime − Birth/Mother 2006 | Hotaru 2000 | Suzaku 1997
