The Kumamoto Dormitory

The Kumamoto Dormitory and its supporting short All Day introduce us to another talented young actor-director in Japan’s still-burgeoning indie sector. Born and raised in Kumamoto, Mine Goichi went to Tama Art University and spent four student years living in the Yuhigakusha Dormitory in Tokyo, a rather basic home-away-from-home for kids from Kumamoto. It’s not much of a stretch to see The Kumamoto Dormitory as a piece of disguised autobiography, shot through with documentary elements. It centres on two slackers in the dorm: Daikichi (played by Mine himself) wants to be a movie stunt-man, while his friend Tenshi (Iida Kaoru, who also acts in All Day) is an aspiring director. But the films they talk about while drinking are never going to get made, and Daikichi’s one-night-stand with a girl who believed his bullshit jeopardizes his most daring stunt: a jump from a rooftop with his feet tied. Plays with: All Day

— Tony Rayns