Masayume

Following the death of her mother and her own experience of illness, director and choreographer Nao Yoshigai withdraws from everyday life to a Zen temple, seeking to regain her balance amid psychological crisis and grief. Turning the camera on herself, she records the most fundamental human activities: eating, sleeping, breathing and meditating. As she tunes into the rhythm of her own body, the first signs of healing begin to emerge – clarity and a sense of release gradually return to body and mind, even as life around her carries on as normal.

Yoshigai first experienced the Buddhist retreat herself, then returned with a camera to recreate what she had experienced on her spiritual journey. The result is Masayume – a Japanese title meaning “a dream that comes true in reality”. Indeed, Masayume resembles a dream rendered in a vlog-like aesthetic. Blending documentary and fiction, Yoshigai creates a singular stream of consciousness that moves seamlessly between observations of everyday life, home videos and photography, playful animation and performance art. In doing so, the director finds her own form for the process of healing: a deeply personal, intermedial choreography of image, body and memory.

Age group: No age restrictions

[Łukasz Mańkowski]