Wife of a Spy (film screening)

Wife of a Spy

スパイの妻

Thursday, July 23, 6:00PM (ET)

Doors open 5:30PM | Film Screening | In-Person | JFT Event Hall

Directed by KUROSAWA Kiyoshi • 2020 • Drama, Thriller • 115 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer

Master filmmaker KUROSAWA Kiyoshi won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival for this riveting and gorgeously crafted thriller.

In 1940 in Kobe, during the World War II, Satoko (AOI Yû) receives a visit from her childhood friend, now a military policeman, regarding suspicious activities of her husband, local merchant and amateur filmmaker, Yusaku (TAKAHASHI Issey). Satoko confronts Yusaku, but when she discovers his true intentions, she is torn between loyalty to her husband, the life they have built, and the country they call home.

Part of our Contemporary Japanese Cinema Spotlight series.

Free admission. Registration required.

Registration will be open on Thursday July 2, at 12:00PM ET.

Director Profile:

KUROSAWA Kiyoshi (黒沢 清) is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts, best known for his contributions to the Japanese horror genre.

He first began making 8mm films in university, making his feature film directorial debut in 1983 with Kandagawa Wars. Kurosawa achieved international acclaim with his 1997 crime thriller Cure, which he followed up with other notable works including License to Live (1998), Barren Illusion (1999), and Charisma (1999). Kurosawa’s work has been frequently recognized in festivals worldwide. Pulse (2001) was awarded the Film Critics Award in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. Bright Future and Doppelganger were official selections at Cannes in 2003. Retribution (2006) screened at the Venice Film Festival. Tokyo Sonata won the Jury Prize at Cannes and Best Film at the 2009 Asian Film Awards.

His recent work Journey to the Shore (2015) and Before We Vanish (2017) were both screened in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival in their respective years, with the latter earning Kurosawa the prize for Best Director. In his cinematic return to the horror genre, Creepy (2016) premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival and his film To the End of the Earth (2019) was screened as a closing film at the Locarno Film Festival. For Wife of a Spy, Kurosawa won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the 77th Venice International Film Festival.

In 2024, Kurosawa released three films: Chime, a short horror film that premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival; Serpent’s Path, a French-language remake of Kurosawa’s 1998 film of the same name; and Cloud, which premiered out of competition at the Venice International Film Festival. His latest film, The Samurai and the Prisoner, had its world premiere at the Cannes Premiere section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.