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Listen to the fine sound of longing

Devoured by the raging floods. The tsunami took everything from Haru.

A blurred photo is all she has left of her family who have disappeared forever.
Haru has no support, no one gives her security or even constant love. In silence, she wanders aimlessly.
Once she screams all her suffering out into the world, it feels incredibly raw and real.


Haru is played by Serena Motola, who gives her role a melancholic beauty and depth. When Haru speaks, one listens to her words, however ordinary they may seem at first.
Haru is still a child, she thinks like a child, cries like a child and yet suffers like any other human being. Sadness and pain fill her soul. But her mind is not as closed as her introverted appearance might suggest.




Without shyness, but also without a real alternative, she meets different people on her journey through the country, who all give her something to take with her on her journey. She is given affection and warmth. These encounters may be constructed and unrealistic, but they are honest and true in their essence. The people Haru meets also tell something about contemporary Japanese society.
Be it the handling of refugees or the central theme of the film, the effects of the accident in Fukushima in 2011 on landscape and society.

Director and co-author Nobuhiro Suwa takes his time with his narration and gives its poetic power a lot of space.
"Kaze no Denwa" or "Voices in the Wind" is a quiet and tender film.
We hear and feel the sensitively used Magical Realism in the form of voices in the wind, which create a very tender, dreamy mood within us.
A mood that fills the film from the very beginning and that can't let us go. Haru is alone and yet she will be connected with her family forever.

image source: © 2020 The Phone of the Wind Film Partners

The Screenings von "Kaze No Denwa" at the Berlinale:
So, 23.02. - 8 p.m. at Urania
Mi, 26.02. - 8 p.m. at Cubix 8
Do, 27.02. - 4 p.m. at Urania
So, 01.03. - 8 p.m. at Cubix 8


A comment on Kaze No Denwa
25th of February, Vincent Edusei

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