Another quick hit for the Cupcake lovers out there, if you are following projects by Kimura-san and Takeda-san! This is a fun one that I watched last night:
The Japan Los Angeles Film Festival is offering virtual screenings of their line-up, including seven short films. One of them, “Tea Brewer,” features Kimura-san as a somewhat smarmy and very pretentious tea brewer who attempts to take over a rural family’s tea shop through an agreement with the deceased owner. The owner’s son, who is deaf, struggles to come to terms with this reality and tries to become a tea brewer himself.
It’s a sweet, short film! This is something I found (once again) while scrolling Twitter and it’s definitely worth supporting indie films in an indie festival to check this out. The setting of the film is absolutely lovely and somewhat melancholy, and the premise is pretty straightforward. After “Drive My Car,” it’s great to see more sign language being used in Japanese filmmaking. Also, I believe the song played during the final credits has Kimura-san and his co-lead singing together, but I have to confirm that through Spotify.
Go watch and support the festival! Here’s the direct link to the film: https://watch.eventive.org/jffla/play/62eeb6a11e8ab8006124da6d. Access expires next week (I think September 12).
