Call Me Chihiro (2023)

Synopsis:

Chihiro used to work as a prostitute. She happened to stop by a seaside town and have a bento meal there. She loved the meal so much, she decided to settle down in the seaside town and work at the bento shop. She now greets customers with a smile at the bento shop and makes small talk with them. She doesn’t even hide her past. Chihiro talks with customers about various problems and, through their conversations, they are comforted by her. Chihiro herself suffers from loneliness, which started with her family when she was little. By meeting her customers, she also faces her loneliness and gets over that slowly.

Director’s biography:

Rikiya Imaizumi is a Japanese film director. He is the writer and director of Sad Tea – a romance and comedy film nominated for the Japanese Cinema Splash Best Picture Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2013. Two years later, he was again nominated for the same award with the film Their Distance. This film was also nominated for the Best Film Award at the Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival. In 2018, What is Love? was a nomination for the Best Film Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival. In 2022, In the Street won the Best Ensemble Performance at Faro Island Film Festival with nominations for Best Orginal Screenplay and Best New Performer.