Orphan’s Blues

Feature Slate

North American Premiere

Suffering from undiagnosed memory loss, Emma (Yukino Murakami) comes upon an elephant drawing by a childhood orphanage friend named Yang and goes off in search of him. Her wayward journey leads her to a group of outsiders whose lives are all revealed to be traumatically linked to the same missing person, including his brother Van (Takuro Kawakami). As she unlocks troubling secrets in the sweltering countryside, Emma’s memory simultaneously fades and her experiences become increasingly surreal. Winner of Pia Film Festival’s 2018 Grand Prize, director Riho Kudo’s debut is an arthouse drama marked by beautifully expressive cinematography and daring narrative experimentation.

2018. 89 min. Directed by Riho Kudo. With Yukino Murakami, Takuro Kawakami, Nagiko Tsuji, Shion Sasaki.

"An engaging snapshot of the ennui and dynamism driving young, vulnerable individuals along as they try to make their lives whole."

— The Hollywood Reporter