AN

  • a film by Naomi Kawase
  • feature film
  • 113 min
  • 2015

Sentaro runs a small bakery that serves dorayaki pastries filled with sweet red bean paste (“an”). When an old lady, Tokue, offers to help in the kitchen he reluctantly accepts. She will soon prove to have magic in her hands…

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Info

  • Genre

    • drama / comedy

  • Countries of Production

    • France / Germany / Japan

  • Language

    • Japanese

  • World premiere

    • 14th May 2015 – Festival de Cannes / opening film: Un Certain Regard

  • German cinema release

    • 31st December 2015

  • a production by

    • Twenty Twenty Vision, Comme Des Cinémas, Kumie Inc.

  • in co-production with

    • ZDF/Arte

  • with the support of

    • MBB – Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg

  • World Sales

    • mk2 films (formerly Memento Films International)

  • Distribution

    • Neue Visionen Filmverleih
Synopsis

The story takes place on a small shop making traditional sweet red bean pancake, Dorayaki (Dorayaki is a Japanese traditional sweet made with pancake and anko (sweet Azuki red bean paste) filling. It’s said that the name of this cake comes from its shape, round like a dora (a gong)).
Sentaro stands in the tiny shop all day long, making Dorayaki on a hot plate.
Tokue, a woman in her 70’s with disfigured hands, visits the shop to seek employment. Amazed by the taste of Tokue’s Azuki red bean paste, Sentaro decides to hire her. His shop begins to thrive.
During her entire life, Tokue has been living with people’s prejudice against her.
As for Sentaro, he is in search of a reason to keep on living. Eventually though, they both find their way.
‘An’ is a story that lingers in one’s heart, embracing the beauty and the mystery of life, up to the very end.

Cast

  • Tokue

    • Kirin Kiki

  • Sentaro

    • Masatoshi Nagase

  • Wakana

    • Kyara Uchida

  • Sentaro’s mother

    • Kazue Tsunogae

  • Wakana’s mother

    • Miki Mizuno

  • Shuhei

    • Shuhei Hara

  • Miu

    • Miu Takeuchi

  • Saki

    • Saki Takahashi

  • Yuria

    • Yuria Murata
Crew

  • Written by

    • Naomi Kawase
    • based on the novel «SWEET BEAN TASTE» by Durian Sukegawa

  • Directed by

    • Naomi Kawase

  • Producers

    • Thanassis Karathanos, Masa Sawada, Anne Pernod, Naomi Kawase

  • Director of photography

    • Shigeki Akiyama

  • Editor

    • Tina Baz, Naomi Kawase

  • Set design

    • Kyoko Heya

  • Sound Design

    • Roman Dumny

  • Mixing Engineer

    • Olivier Goinard

  • Gaffer

    • Yasuhiro Ohta
Festivals
  • Festival de Cannes / Opening film – Un Certain Regard
  • IFF Moskow
  • Valletta FF / Malta – in competition ‚Best Film‘ and ‚Best Actress‘ for K.Kiki
  • Seoul International Food Film Festival / South Korea – opening film
  • IFF Odessa / Ukraine
  • IFF New Horizons / Poland
  • IFF Sakhalin „On the Edge“ / Russia
Awards
  • Valladolid IFF/ Spain – Best Director for Naomi Kawase

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