【Hirer Event】Shorts by NEO SORA and KOHEI IGARASHI
***With post-screening Sharing
1. TWO OF US
2023 | 20 min ｜Japan, France / /Japanese
Sano and Miyata, two childhood friends, are on a trip together in a resort hotel facing the Pacific Ocean. Miyata is devoted to conspiracy theories and he tries to get Sano to believe this idea. But Sano doesn't believe it, and they fight. As Miyata's phone keeps ringing all day, Sano loses patience and takes the call. It was a phone call from Miyata's father, who was saying unintelligible things, probably from dementia. Sano hangs up the phone in confusion and tries to go home with Miyata.
Director · Kohei Igarashi
2. Sugar Glass Bottle
2022｜20 mins｜ /Japan
Near-future Tokyo. A sheepish high schooler, Kou, through the help of his best friend, finds a surprising way to express his mounting frustration at the insidious forces of commercialism that are forcing out the neighbors he cares most about.
Director · NEO SORA
3. The Chicken
2020 | 13 mins |/USA/English Japanese
On an unseasonably hot day in November, Hiro, a Japanese immigrant in New York City, decides to butcher a live chicken for dinner. While showing his visiting cousin Kei around, the pair encounter a medical emergency on the street. After they mishandle the situation and end up causing more harm than good, Hiro cannot bring himself to kill the chicken. Throughout, Kei observes his cousin’s new lifestyle as Hiro and his pregnant wife prepare for their move to Chinatown. As the day wears on, Hiro and Kei’s actions highlight how their lives are complicit in the structural violence that surrounds them.
Director · NEO SORA
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**Free admission. Get ticket in advance. Limited seats, while seat last.**
Organized by Audio-Visual Association - CUT
Subsidized by Cultural Development Fund of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government
About the Director Kohei Igarashi Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1983, IGARASHI Kohei graduated in Cinema from the Tokyo Zokei University. In 2008, he directed his first feature film, VOICE OF RAIN THAT COMES AT NIGHT (2008), which was selected at the Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival (CINDI). In 2011, he directed the short film APARTNESS(2011). In 2014, his graduation film HOLD YOUR BREATH LIKE A LOVER(2014) was selected for the 67th Locarno Film Festival. In 2017, he co-directed THE NIGHT I SWAM(2017) with Damien Manivel. The film premiered at the Venice and San Sebastian film festivals. In 2023, his feature film SUPER HAPPY FOREVER (2023) won the Silver Balloon Award in the International Competition section at the 46th Nantes Three Continents Festival. |  | |
About the Director Neo Sora Born in the United States in 1991, Neo was raised in both New York and Tokyo, and pursued studies in philosophy and film. In 2020, his short film, THE CHICKEN (2020), an adaptation of a short story by Naoya Shiga premiered at Locarno International Film Festival 2020. In 2022, his short film SUGAR GLASS BOTTLE(2022) was nominated for the Firebird Award in the International Short Film Competition at the 47th Hong Kong International Film Festival. In 2024, his first fiction feature film HAPPYEND(2024) premiered at the Venice Film Festival and received the Jury Honor in the Roberto Rossellini Honorary Section at the 8th Pingyao International Film Festival. In 2025, with the feature film HAPPYEND, he was nominated for Best New Director at the 18th Asian Film Awards. |  |