November 17 – 19, 2026
Multiple Cinemas | Screenings with In-Person Q&A
MIYAKE Sho is one of the leading voices in contemporary Japanese cinema. Since making his feature debut with Good for Nothing (2010), he has developed a distinctive body of work marked by its quiet observation of everyday life and deep attention to the people and places that shape it. His films have received growing international recognition, most recently with the Golden Leopard at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival for Two Seasons, Two Strangers.
The Japan Foundation, Toronto is proud to co-present a special series of screenings celebrating Miyake’s work, in collaboration with local cinemas across Toronto. Miyake will appear in person for post-screening Q&As following three screenings of his films, including a rare opportunity to see his first feature film on the big screen.
Join us for this unique opportunity to experience Miyake’s films and hear directly from one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Japanese cinema!
Tuesday, November 17
Small, Slow But Steady (ケイコ 目を澄ませて)
Cinema:TIFF Lightbox (350 King Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 3X5)
Time: 6:30 PM
Directed by MIYAKE Sho • 2022 • 99 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles •Trailer
Keiko is a semi-professional boxer who has been deaf since childhood. Her biggest supporter is the owner of her struggling Tokyo gym, but due to the pandemic and his advanced age, her greatest refuge is under threat of closure.
In-person Q&A with MIYAKE Sho.
Wednesday, November 18
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (旅と日々)
Cinema: Fox Theatre (2236 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M4E 1G2)
Time: 6:30 PM
Directed by MIYAKE Sho • 2025 • 89 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles
Based on two manga by Yoshiharu Tsuge, who rose to underground celebrity thanks to his surrealist tales published in the pages of the bastion of Japanese avant-garde cartooning, Garo, Sho Miyake’s bifurcated live-action feature observes (and draws parallels and contrasts from) a summertime meet-cute between Nagisa and Natsuo (Yuumi Kawai and Mansaku Takada) and a snowbound winter encounter between screenwriter Li and innkeeper Benzo (Shim Eun-kyung and Shinichi Tsutsumi). Winner of the Golden Leopard at last year’s Locarno Film Festival, hailed “a true masterpiece” by Shiguéhiko Hasumi, Japan’s greatest living film critic, Two Seasons, Two Strangers is at one and the same time as simple as its straightforward title suggests and immensely, exhilaratingly complex.
In-person Q&A with MIYAKE Sho.
Good for Nothing (やくたたず)
Cinema: Paradise Theatre (1006 Bloor St W, Toronto ON M6H 1M2)
Time: 6:00 PM
Directed by MIYAKE Sho • 2012 • 76 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles
Three teenage deadbeats on the verge of high school graduation spend their days meandering around snow-covered Sapporo, Hokkaido in Sho Miyake’s debut feature GOOD FOR NOTHING (2012). When our characters are able to finally find something productive to do—work at a local security company—they are somehow left with nothing to do at all. What results is a classic portrait of listless youth by either choice or circumstance, carrying both the weightlessness of a film like SLACKER and the urgency of a film like THE 400 BLOWS. A terse cinematic language utilizing black and white only adds to this feeling. As Miyake’s profile grows with each subsequent film, GOOD FOR NOTHING stands as a striking debut awaiting reevaluation. The snow never stops.
In-person Q&A with MIYAKE Sho.
La Baie des Anges (Bay of Angels)
Cinema: Paradise Theatre (1006 Bloor St W, Toronto ON M6H 1M2)
Time: 8:45 PM
Directed by Jacques Demy • 1963 • 89 minutes • Presented in French with English subtitles
Along with GOOD FOR NOTHING, Eastern Promises has worked with director Miyake to programme his choice of Jacques Demy’s BAY OF ANGELS (1963), his tale about a gorgeous blonde gambling addict and the bank clerk drawn into her dangerous world. It’s a visually stunning exploration of love and obsession and is Demy’s last film shot in black & white.
MIYAKE Sho will introduce the film prior to the screening.
