Great Absence

The news reaches Takashi during his work as an actor on stage: His father has been arrested by the police. He sets off to visit his father, who has been very distant for many years, not only spatially but also emotionally, and who has since been transferred to a home. The diagnosis is dementia, and Takashi's visit marks the beginning of a slow path of rapprochement, which can only be achieved by catching up with his fading memory. His father never had much understanding for his son's way of life, considered his acting career choice worthless. He left the family at that time and moved in with another woman, Naomi. Takashi wonders about the whereabouts of Naomi and receives conflicting information. His father is no longer in control and tells one story and another. Is Naomi still alive, and if so, where has she gone? The search for Naomi becomes a journey into his father's past, gives insight into his emotional world, which the son never knew.

He has already been a personal guest at Japannual as the director of his debut feature Complicity, the opening film of 2019. Now, with Great Absence, Kei CHIKA-URA has delivered his second film, which screened at both the TIFF Film Festival in Toronto and San Sebastian this year.