Birdland (2019)

After his caretaker leaves him for dark and lonely moments at home, elderly Koji remembers his late wife Saki and the time they spent watching snowfall together in a park. Beyond age and even death, the connection between the two is vivid and all-consuming. Takeshi Kogahara, director of Nagisa (JC 2018), reflects on navigating the end of life—a theme that is personally significant for the director whose own grandmother is bedridden and has difficulty communicating.