Yoji Yamada Director - P 2014
AP ImagesTOKYO – Yoji Yamada‘s The Little House (Chisai Ouchi) has been selected to compete at next month’s 64th Berlin International Film Festival, marking the ninth time the veteran director will have his work screened at the fest.
Yamada, 82, told Japanese media after the announcement that he would try to make the trip to Berlin, but that long journeys are becoming more difficult for him.
The Little House is based on Kyoko Nakajima‘s award-winning novel of the same name, published in 2010, which follows the life and loves of a family in Tokyo before and during World War II.
Matsu Takako (Confession) stars as the lady of the house, while her maid is played by Haru Kuroki (The Great Passage) in her younger years and by long-time Yamada collaborator Chieko Baisho, as an old lady recounting the story.
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Yamada was honored with the Berlinale Camera award in 2010 for his contribution to the festival and a screening of Her Younger Brother (Ototo) at the closing ceremony. Tokyo Family (Tokyo Kazoku), his poorly received remake of Yasujiro Ozu‘s 1950s classic Tokyo Story, screened at Berlin last year.
The Berlin International Film Festival runs from Feb. 6-16. The Little House will be released by Shochiku in Japan on Jan. 25.
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