In an post-screening Q&A ahead of the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, filmmaker Neo Sora discussed his nominated feature “Happyend,” a contemplative exploration of fractured friendship against the backdrop of political unrest in near-future Japan.
In the film, in near-future Tokyo, the threat of a catastrophic quake looms. Two friends, Yuta (Kurihara Hayato) and Korean-origin Kou (Hidaka Yukito), prank their principal before graduation, leading to school surveillance installation.
The Tokyo-based director’s debut feature film weaves personal relationships with larger sociopolitical themes, creating what Sora describes as “differences in scale” between intimate character dynamics and sweeping social commentary. “The core of the film is friendship, but specifically
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