Keiko TSURUOKA 鶴岡慧子

Makuko

まく子

Nippon Cinema   ª 

Kozue’s an alien! This would be big news for some, but it hardly upsets fifth grader Satoshi, because he is already totally confused. Just sitting next to a girl is quite an experience for him and ever since Kozue has popped up in town she won’t leave his side. On top of that, she keeps staring at him with this totally penetrating gaze… And as Kozue and her mother start living in the guesthouse of Satoshi’s family, running away is not an option. In a sunny tale of youth, Keiko TSURUOKA recounts the alien sensation of first love from the angle of a boy who doesn’t want to become a man. Instead he ponders the big questions of youth and mortality. Animated journeys to Saturn come as no surprise when the youngsters follow their fantasies.

まく子

Japan 2019

108 minutes

Director
Keiko TSURUOKA

Script
Keiko TSURUOKA based on a novel by Kanako NISHI

Cinematography
Ryuichi SHIMOKAWA

About Keiko TSURUOKA
鶴岡慧子

Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1988, Keiko TSURUOKA began making movies while attending Rikkyo University. Her graduation work, THE TOWN OF WHALES, won the Grand Prize at the 2012 PIA Film Festival and was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Busan International Film Festival, and many other film festivals around the world. In 2012, she began studying directing at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media. There, she directed her second film MY FIRST LOVE (2013), which was presented at the Vancouver International Film Festival. LINGERING MEMORIES (2015) was her first theatrical release.