Monster (film screening)
July 8 @ 6:00 pm - 8:15 pm EDT
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Monster
怪物
Wednesday, July 8, 6:00PM (ET)
Doors open 5:30PM | Film Screening | In-Person | JFT Event Hall
Directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu • 2023 • Drama, Mystery • 125 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer
A single mother, Saori (ANDO Sakura), demands answers from a school teacher, Hori (NAGAYAMA Eita), when her son Minato (KUROKAWA Sōya, winner of the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Newcomer for this role) begins acting strangely. As the tension escalates, the line between truth and misunderstanding starts to blur.
Winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, Monster is a complex, multi-layered drama that uses Rashomon effect to explore the worlds of the two young children who live under the shadows of the adults around them. In his latest work, acclaimed director KORE-EDA Hirokazu turns a compassionate lens to those who are misunderstood and marginalized, asking what it means to be seen as a “monster” in this world. The film is further elevated by a poignant score from the late composer SAKAMOTO Ryuichi, which “creates a layer of nuance and meaning” (The Guardian).
Content advisory: references to bullying, abuse, and self-harm.
Part of our Contemporary Japanese Cinema Spotlight series (more details to come soon).
Free admission. Registration required.
Registration will be open on Thursday June 18, at 12:00PM ET.
Director Profile:
KORE-EDA Hirokazu (是枝 裕和) is a Japanese director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. Before becoming a director, Kore-eda worked as an assistant director on television documentaries.
At the 1995 Venice Film Festival, Kore-eda’s first fiction feature film, Maborosi, won a Golden Osella for Best Cinematography. His next feature film After Life premiered at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival and brought international recognition to Kore-eda’s work.
One of the most acclaimed contemporary Japanese filmmakers, Kore-eda’s films have been selected at the Festival de Cannes multiple times, including Distance (2001), Nobody Knows (Best Actor Award, 2004), Air Doll (2009), Like Father, Like Son (Jury Prize, 2013), Our Little Sister (2015) and After the Storm (2016). In 2018, Shoplifters won the Palme d’or at the 71st Festival de Cannes as well as being nominated for the 91st Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Kore-eda then turned to international co-production for his next two features: The Truth (2019) in France, and Broker (Best Actor Award, Festival de Cannes 2022) in Korea. In 2023, his feature Monster won Queer Palm and Best Screenplay at the 76th Festival de Cannes. His latest film, Sheep in the Box, had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
