Skip to main content

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

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The wind phone as an emotional escape

After Yuki & Nina in the 2009 Kplus programme, Nobuhiro Suwa returns to the Generation programme with another film. His new film Kaze No Denwa is in the 14+ programme. The day after the world premiere he takes a whole hour for Clara and me to answer our questions about the shooting process, the situation in Japan and other things. We make ourselves comfortable in the lounge of the Hotel Berlin, Berlin and exchange thoughts about Kaze No Denwa, Japan and the world with nice background music, while Isabelle kindly translates for us. Free Generation Reporters : How did the film team come together and how did you find Serena Motola, Haru's actress? Nobuhiro Suwa : It has been 18 years since I shot my last film in Japan. Since 2002, I have actually only worked with French producers. So I didn't know most of my new colleagues before. It was all very exciting and I was quite nervous, but everything went well. We did a casting for Haru, several girls showed up, but in the end ...

Between uproars and spa days

Hong Kong, July 28, 2019. Screaming, tear gas, gunfire. One, two, retreat from the front line, push forward. We are in the midst of Hong Kong's protests and uprisings last summer. We march with the masses, hiding behind the shields, seeing our comrades shouting commands, keeping moving, fainting, being carried away. Everything is chaotic and frightening, but still organized and controlled. For 15 minutes I hold my breath, my heart is racing and at the same time keeps skipping beats. It is suffocating. Incredibly suffocating to experience a day of the Hong Kong riots so close. In my holiday-influenced July, I did hear and read about the situation, but unfortunately I didn't learn about it too much. Therefore, it feels even more extreme to be thrown into this moment at the beginning of the 14+ Short Film Roll 2. Despite the brevity of the film, one arrives immediately within the scene. The camera fits seamlessly into the group dynamics. Everyone around is too busy to shy away ...

The language of visuals

„They take the gold and throw away the chest. That chest is our country.“ Mongolia is considered to be one of the ten most resource-rich countries in the world. Foreign investors have transformed one fifth of Mongolia to mining areas. Nature is being destroyed, the daily life of local people is affected. Byambasuren Davaa, known for „The story of a weeping camel“, takes her new feature film „Veins of the World“ to this year's Berlinale Generation, in which she portraits a nomad family, living in a region that is about to become mining area. In strong cinematographic pictures, the film tells a story about a young boy and his big dream, about the loss of a father, about love to nature and the soul of Mongolian mountains. THE NATURE “Veins of the world” transports a feeling for Mongolian nature through its powerful visuals. Panoramas of Mongolian nature and mining areas alternate with close-ups of the nomads and their changing life. The man behind those strong cinematic pictures i...