Adabana + Director Q&A

Directed by Kai Sayaka
Starring Iura Arata, Mizuhara Kiko, Miura Toko

Meeting your clone and confronting yourself. A beautifully artistic take by a female director from the new generation, likely to resonate with fans of Never Let Me Go and The Island.

In the near future, a mysterious virus has drastically reduced the population, prompting the government to promote life-extending treatments using cutting-edge technology, reserved for the elite. Among these is a cloned version of oneself, known as a “Unit”, created to supply necessary parts when one’s own body begins to fail.

Shinji born into wealth and now a father with a seemingly perfect family, is diagnosed as terminally ill and soon hospitalised for a revolutionary procedure: a full-body transplant from his Unit. Feeling very anxious, Shinji begins psychotherapy with psychologist Mahoro  and starts retracing fragments of his past: a mysterious woman on the beach, the unsettling words of his mother…

However, this process of recalling his memories only makes him more distressed, and before long, Shinji begs to meet his Unit — something that is not normally allowed. Shinji comes face-to-face with a version of himself who shares his intellectual curiosity, but remains unsullied by the outside world. As the two learn more about each other a strange intimacy develops, forcing Shinji to reconsider the sanctity of life.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Director Kai Sayaka.

© 2024 ADABANA FILM PARTNERS / DISSIDENZ

Co-presented by the Japan Foundation.