Hotel Hibiscus (film screening)
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May 25 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm EDT
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Hotel Hibiscus
Saturday, May 25, 6:30PM (ET)
Doors open 6:00PM | Film Screening | In-Person | JFT Event Hall
Directed by NAKAE Yuji • 2002 • Comedy / Family • 90 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer
Hotel Hibiscus has only one guest room. At the hotel, 9-year-old Mieko (HONAMI Kurashita) lives happily with her father (MASAO Teruya), her mother (KIMIKO Yo), her grandmother (TOMI Taira) and half brother and sister. On her way home from school, Mieko saves a teenage boy named Notojima (TOSHIHIRO Wada) and he becomes the hotel’s sole guest. Along with her classmates, Mieko spends her days trying to find Kijimuna—the Forest Fairy. One day, her mother and half sister depart for America to meet her sister’s real father, leaving Mieko very busy with all the cooking and cleaning chores at the hotel. She delivers a letter to her father, who’s working at a pineapple orchard, and meets a strange old man who calls himself Old Man Kijimuna. She also runs into a girl that looks identical to herself. Mieko’s summer holiday is filled with all sorts of experiences.
Hotel Hibiscus director NAKAE Yuji will be in attendance for a Q&A conversation following the screening.
This screening is a part of our ongoing Keep Dancin’, Okinawa! film series, in celebration of Okinawan stories, culture, and history.
Free admission. Register below.
Director Profile:
NAKAE Yuji (中江裕司), born in Kyoto Prefecture in 1960, moved to Okinawa shortly after beginning his studies of agricultural science at Ryukyu University. As a student, he began filming with 8 mm. After graduating, he founded the film production company Panali Pictures in 1988. He was one of the directors of the omnibus film Pineapple Tours (1992), which was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. His feature-length films Nabbie’s Love (1999), Hotel Hibiscus (2002) and The Zen Diary (2022) were internationally successful. Apart from directing feature films, he is also active in the field of documentary films and theater. —Nippon Connection
