Twilight Cinema Blues

For the washed-up film director Kondo, the past few years have been anything but smooth, leaving him now confronted with a massive mountain of debt. Known for his cult genre films, the filmmaker decides to return to his humble hometown to get back on his feet. There, he also hopes to distance himself from his work and find other ways to scrape together the necessary money, without having to face his broken passion for filmmaking. However, this attempt to isolate himself from the world of cinema almost immediately fails when Kondo gets drawn into a conversation about the unique beauty of debut films by the homeless cinephile Sato. Sato, however, is only the first of many colorful personalities that the director soon encounters, each with their own unique connection to film. Among them is the overly emotional owner of the local repertory cinema, which, like Kondo himself, is fighting for its continued existence and could really use a new hit—perhaps from a disgraced cult director.

Director Hideo JŌJŌ is a familiar face at the Japannual Film Festival. His films Thorns of Beauty (2023) and Love Nonetheless (2022) have already been shown at our festival. He is considered one of the most prolific directors in contemporary Japanese cinema, and this year, once again, he has completed four films, one of which, Twilight Cinema Blues, has made it into our selection. Until a few years ago, he was exclusively devoted to the Pink Picture genre, but he has been increasingly moving away from it. In his ensemble cast, he has given more space to a number of actors primarily known for supporting roles, most notably Shōhei UNO, Mitsuru FUKIKOSHI, and Ayumu NAKAJIMA.