Synopsis
The novel this movie is based on is Lily Festival (Yurisai), a caustic, brightly humorous portrayal of the sexuality of elderly women. The heroines of the story are seven women who range in age from 69 to 91. When an elderly ladies' man moves into their old-fashioned apartment building, a tremendous commotion ensues. Two women begin to develop an unexpected relation. In their old age, they are confronted for the first time to the possibilities of lesbian love.
Director Biography
Born in 1948, Sachi Hamano’s ambition was to create films depicting women from a woman’s perspective, rather than based on female stereotypes. She came to Tokyo to seek a way into the filmmaking industry, a very male dominate sector at the time, unwilling to hire women as directors. Consequently she decided to work in the soft porn industry to gain skills required for filmmaking. She went on to work as an assistant director in independent production companies and in 1971 she made her debut as a director. She founded her own production company, Tantansha, in 1984. In 1998, she produced the independent film "In Search of a Lost Writer: Wandering in the World of the Seventh Sense," which depicted the life and work of the nearly forgotten female writer, Osaki Midori. This film won Hayashi Amari Prize. In the same year, she encountered Momotani Hoko's novel portraying sexuality among the elderly, "Lily Festival”, which she adapted for the screen and completed production in 2001. In January 2005 she published her book Onnaga Eigawo Tsukuru! [Women Make Movies!]. In 2006, "The Cricket Girl" was completed. "Yoshiko & Yuriko" was completed in 2011, and “Body Trouble” in 2015.
Anja Salomonowitz