Forever a Woman (KOTATSU screening)
March 8 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm EDT
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Forever a Woman
乳房よ永遠なれ
Sunday, March 8, 3:00PM (ET)
Doors open 2:30PM | Film Screening | In-Person | Innis Town Hall
Directed by TANAKA Kinuyo • 1955 • Drama • 106 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer
4k Restoration!
TANAKA Kinuyo’s third film as a director tells the story of NAKAJO Fumiko, an ill-fated female tanka poet whose life was brought to a premature end by breast cancer. Set on the plains of Hokkaido, it features a fully-committed performance from star TSUKIOKA Yumeji, whose character deals with the pain of being separated from her son, then suddenly finds herself forced to confront her mortality, yet still invests herself wholeheartedly in one last love affair. The supporting cast includes MORI Masayuki, one of the most revered actors of Japanese cinema’s golden age, as well as HAYAMA Ryoji in his first film role, SUGI Yoko, and OSAKA Shiro. The screenplay was penned by TANAKA Sumie, further consolidating the “films for women, by women” outlook that TANAKA Kinuyo strived to advance.
Before the screening, there will be an introduction by writer, producer and filmmaker, Kelley Dong!
This screening is a part of our annual winter film showcase, KOTATSU 2026: Japanese Cinema at Innis Town Hall.
Free admission. Registration Required.
Director Profile:
As an actress, TANAKA Kinuyo (田中 絹代) appeared in approximately 250 films, including works by masters of Japanese cinema such as MIZOGUCHI Kenji, NARUSE Mikio, OZU Yasujiro, etc. At the age of forty-two, and after starring in more than two hundred films, Tanaka chose to work behind the camera as a director. This decision constituted a milestone in the history of women in Japanese cinema. Prior to Tanaka, only one woman had directed a Japanese feature film: SAKANE Tazuko, whose directorial career was unfortunately cut short due to backlash from the largely male-led film industry. By the time Tanaka announced her wish to become a director, she was one of the most celebrated actress in Japan, and her decision was met with circumspection and even objection from some of her previous collaborators.
A pioneering woman in a studio system that actively discouraged female directors, TANAKA Kinuyo made six groundbreaking features over the course of a decade, dismissing the passivity assigned to most female protagonists of the era and creating a small, radical oeuvre of progressive heroines. These films, which for decades were not available in North America, and rarely screened outside of Japan, were recently restored in 4K, allowing audiences to (re)discover Tanaka’s achievement as a director.
Director Filmography
1953 Love Letter
1955 The Moon Has Risen
1955 Forever a Woman
1960 The Wandering Princess
1961 Girls of the Night
1962 Love Under the Crucifix
Guest Profile:
Kelley Dong is a writer, producer and filmmaker. Their writing has appeared in MUBI Notebook, Cinema Scope, Film Comment, The Village Voice, and the Harvard Film Archive.
