#IFFIWood, 28 November 2025

Japanese Director Kei Ishikawa met the media today at Press Conference Hall with his second directorial creation ‘A Pale View of Hills’ which has been screened this year in 56^th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa as a part of the bouquet ‘Country Focus: Japan’, curated to offer a panoramic view of contemporary Japanese cinema to the IFFIsiasts.

Celebrating the creative vitality of both emerging voices and acclaimed masters who continue to shape the nation’s cinematic legacy, the ‘Country Focus: Japan’ spans an exceptional spectrum of genres—ranging from intimate dramas that explore memory, identity, and belonging, to historical epics, psychological thrillers, children’s narratives, and abstract, non-linear experiments that challenge and expand the boundaries of cinematic form.

Director Ishikawa opened the discussion, “This is my first visit to India, and I have truly enjoyed the experience. The film is based on the Nobel Prize–winning author Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1982 novel of the same name. This year, many Japanese films are exploring this subject, as it marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War. I, too, have always wanted to speak about this topic, but I found it challenging to find the right language, since I did not experience that period firsthand. When I discovered this novel, the subject became much more accessible to me, and it gave me the confidence to tell this story.”

The story of the film follows a young aspiring Japanese-British writer who sets out to create a book based on her mother Etsuko’s post-war experiences in Nagasaki. Still haunted by the suicide of her older daughter, Etsuko begins recounting memories from 1952, when she was a young expectant mother. Her recollections center on her encounter with Sachiko, a woman determined to build a new life abroad with her daughter Mariko, who occasionally speaks of unsettling memories involving an eerie woman. As the writer pieces together the fragments and mementoes from her mother’s Nagasaki years, she begins to notice disturbing inconsistencies between the memories Etsuko shares and the reality they suggest.

He shared what drew him to this story was that it is not only about the atomic bomb, but also about women across different eras. He explained that he chose to write the script himself and also edited the film, as he considers editing to be the final stage of the writing process.

He went on explaining that the team had to balance the perspectives of three countries Japan, the UK, and Poland, while determining the most suitable ending for the film. Each brought a different sensibility: the British producers preferred a clearer, more defined conclusion; while the Polish producers felt that too much explanation would dilute the impact. The Japanese perspective lay somewhere in between. He shared that he truly enjoyed this collaborative process and the extensive discussions that ultimately led the movie to the right ending.

Watch the full Press Conference:

Watch the Trailer:

About IFFI

Born in 1952, the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) stands tall as South Asia’s oldest and largest celebration of cinema. Jointly hosted by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), State Government of Goa, the festival has grown into a global cinematic powerhouse—where restored classics meet bold experiments, and legendary maestros share space with fearless first-timers. What makes IFFI truly sparkle is its electric mix—international competitions, cultural showcases, masterclasses, tributes, and the high-energy WAVES Film Bazaar, where ideas, deals and collaborations take flight. Staged against Goa’s stunning coastal backdrop from November 20–28, the 56th edition promises a dazzling spectrum of languages, genres, innovations, and voices—an immersive celebration of India’s creative brilliance on the world stage.

For more information, click on:

IFFI Website: https://www.iffigoa.org/

PIB’s IFFI Microsite: https://www.pib.gov.in/iffi/56/

PIB IFFIWood Broadcast Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaEiBaML2AU6gnzWOm3F

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X Handles: @IFFIGoa, @PIB_India, @PIB_Panaji

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PIB IFFI CAST AND CREW | Ritu Shukla/Santhosh Venkatraman /Debayan Bhadury/Darshana Rane | IFFI 56 - 107