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A Long Walk, dir: Eiji Okuda

Love doesn't come easy for Sachi (Hana Sugiura), a little girl with cardboard angel wings and purple bruises on her body. Living with her abusive and alcoholic mother, Sachi walks barefoot and spends her time alone in an area of shrubs and trees near her apartment complex. Redemption doesn't come easy for Matsutaro Yasuda (Ken Ogata), a retired principal who is haunted by the death of his alcoholic wife and resentful daughter.** Now living next door to Sachi, he often hears moaning at night and watches as the small girl is forced to see her mother prostitute herself. For both, love and redemption can only be found when Sachi and Matsutaro find each other – on a long walk to find "a blue sky, where clouds appear like cotton candy and a white bird is flying high." The film's emotional score by Hibiki Inamoto and a sultry rendition of Inoue Yosui's "Kasa ga Nai" makes the film's social themes of neglect and apathy real. This heartfelt drama also stars director Eiji Okuda and Shota Matsuda (Hana Yori Dango). A Long Walk is the co-winner of the Grand Prix of the Americas Award and the winner of the FIPRESCI and Ecumenical Prizes at the 2006 Montreal World Film Festival. --LiAnn Ishizuka

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