People Next Door 2022 / Keiko, me wo sumasete / Japan, France 2022
The young boxer Keiko was born with a hearing impairment, and yet she has successfully gone professional. Her style is characterized by a calm energy, but also uncertainties. Will this fragile young woman stumble beneath the blows of life, or will she win her inner battle? This surprisingly poetic film about boxing comes with a reputation as an unassuming gem from this year’s Berlinale.
Boxing can be approached in a forceful and self-centered manner. But young Keiko, who was born with a hearing impairment and only recently began fighting professionally, is different. She shows others respect to the point that it looks like she doesn’t want to dominate over them. She radiates a calm energy that can be bested perhaps only by her own uncertainties. After two victories, she faces a difficult third bout, but the fragile young woman is overcome by fear and loses the will to fight. What is more, the local gym that has become her second home is at risk of being shut down. Will Keiko stumble beneath the blows of life, or will she win her inner battle? This surprisingly poetic film about boxing comes with a reputation as an unassuming gem from this year’s Berlinale.
Martin Horyna
99 min / Color, DCP
Director Shô Miyake
/ Screenplay Shô Miyake, Masaaki Sakai
/ Dir. of Photography Yuta Tsukinaga
/ Sound Takamitsu Kawai
/ Editor Keiko Okawa
/ Art Director Shinpei Inoue
/ Producer Koichiro Fukushima, Masahiro Handa, Keisuke Konishi, Masa Sawada
/ Production Nagoya Broadcasting Network
/ Coproduction Comme des Cinémas
/ Cast Yukino Kishii, Tomokazu Miura
Shô Miyake (1984, Hokkaido, Japan). Selected filmography: Playback (2012), And Your Bird Can Sing (Kimi no tori wa utaeru, 2018), Small, Slow but Steady (Keiko, me wo sumasete, 2022).
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
