Roanoke College International Film Festival: "Sweet Bean"

Roanoke College International Film Festival: Sweet Bean Come enjoy the second Annual Roanoke College International Film Festival! This year’s theme is food! All screenings are free and open to the public and each film will be followed by a post-screening, panel-led discussion! Contact: Professor Groff, groff@roanoke.edu Sweet Bean (2015) Director: Naome Kawase Runtime: 113min Language: Japanese Synopsis: A lonely baker has his life and business reinvigorated when he hires an elderly woman with an uncanny culinary skill and a mysterious communion with nature, in this graceful, quietly moving drama from Japan’s Naomi Kawase ( The Mourning Forest , Still the Water ). Adapted from the novel by Durian Sukegawa, the new film by Naomi Kawase is a graceful ode to the invisible essences of existence — to the beauty and joy we can discover once we learn to listen to nature and feel the life that is coursing through and all around us. "Sweet Bean" is a delicious red bean paste, the heart of the dorayaki pancakes that Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase) sells from his little bakery to a small but loyal clientele. Absorbed in sad memories and distant thoughts, Sentaro cooks with skill but without enthusiasm. When seventy-six-year-old Tokue (Kirin Kiki) responds to his ad for an assistant and cheerfully offers to work for a ridiculously low wage, Sentaro is skeptical about the eccentric old lady's ability to endure the long hours. But when she shows up early one morning and reveals to him the secret to the perfect red bean paste — listening to the stories of wind, sun, and rain that the beans have to tell — Sentaro agrees to take her on, trusting her strange ability to connect with nature. With Tokue's new home cooked red bean paste recipe, Sentaro's business begins to flourish — but along with her smiles and culinary skill, Tokue is afflicted with an illness that, once revealed, drives her into isolation once again. Using cookery to explore her perennial theme of communion with nature, in Sweet Bean Kawase also poignantly addresses the discrimination that condemns many like Tokue to live their lives segregated from the rest of society. Beautifully shot and quietly moving, Sweet Bean is a humble masterpiece from a singularly accomplished filmmaker. –synopsis courtesy of Toronto International Film Festival. Presented by: Professor Marwood Larson-Harris (religion/philosophy) Professor Zachary Ingle (film, Hollins University) Sponsored by Roanoke College, The Grandin Theatre, the Taubman Museum of Art, and Roanoke Valley Sister Cities. Roanoke College sponsors include the Departments of Modern Languages, Anthropology, and English and Communication Studies; Screen Studies and Peace & Justice Studies concentrations; in addition to Fintel Library, the Student Activities Board, Student Government Association, Hola, French Club, as well as the Offices of Community Programs and International Education.