The Rebirth

A young woman called Nokiro is being interrogated. Her teenage daughter has killed one of her classmates. A man, Junichi, played by the filmmaker himself, is also interrogated, as it was his daughter who was killed. A year later, in a small industrial town in the Hokkaido region, Junichi is now shuttling between his lodgings at an inn and his job at a foundry. Every day he sees Noriko who works as a cook at the inn. They never speak or exchange looks but recognise one another. Each of them repeats the same daily routine. Companions in adversity, they share the same painful past, which cannot be erased. Lyrical, raw and sensitive, The Rebirth highlights all the little details that constitute life and pays tribute to it. (Viennale)