APUC Competition - This film is in the running for the APUC Grand Jury Feature Film Award
Special Guests: Director Junichi Yasuda and actress Yuno Sakura are scheduled to introduce the film and participate in a post-film Q&A (moderated by Mark Schilling).
A Samurai in Time
(侍タイムスリッパー)
A time-traveling samurai finds his calling as an actor in the Japanese sleeper hit of 2024
MIDWEST PREMIERE
Japan | Fantasy Comedy | 2024 | 131 minutes
In Japanese w/ English Subtitles
Director/Screenwriter: Junichi Yasuda
Starring: Makiya Yamaguchi, Norimasa Fuke, Yuno Sakura, Rantaro Mine, Ken Shonozaki
Film Source: Third Window Films
Director Junichi Yasuda and actress Yuno Sakura are scheduled to introduce the film and participate in a post-film Q&A.
SYNOPSIS:
In the Edo period, a samurai is struck by lightning and transported to the present day. Thanks to his “authentic” outfit and speaking style, the samurai ends up finding his calling as a “kiraeyaku,” a swordsman in the samurai genre whose job is to get killed on-screen.
A tribute to Seizo Fukumoto, the late samurai genre actor who died more than 50,000 times on-screen, Junichi Yasuda’s high-concept comedy is a refreshing twist on both the time-traveling and the samurai genres. The self-funded film opened on one screen and slowly grew in popularity on word-of-mouth, becoming the sleeper hit of 2024.
Junichi Yasuda, Director/Screenwriter
Born in Kyoto in 1967. After graduating from Osaka University of Economics, he worked at various jobs before starting his own videography business. His work ranges from kindergarten recitals to bridal photography, corporate videos, event video production, direction and design, multi-cam event recording and broadcasting, and production and distribution of low-budget films. He owns his own equipment, including six professional video cameras, five cine cameras, dozens of lenses, lighting equipment, dollies, cranes, switchers, and intercoms. In 2014, he founded Mirai Eigasha. In 2023, upon his father's passing, he took over his family's rice farming business. Farming rice fields that are too large takes up a lot of time, making it difficult to work on the video productions, and with rice prices so low that they are in the red, the situation continues to be uncertain due to tight household finances. “If Samurai in Time doesn't become a hit, I won't be able to continue growing rice.”
Yuno Sakura, Actress
When she graduated from elementary school, she dreamed of becoming an actress, but she did not study acting.She entered her current industry through a yukata contest, and her first acting experience was appearing in an opening video for an event filmed by Junichi Yasuda. Junichi Yasuda then cast her for her first film acting roles in his debut feature Kenju to Medamayaki (2014) and then to play the lead role in his follow-up film Gohan (2017). A Samurai in Time is her latest collaboration with director Junichi Yasuda.
Screening Date:
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Showtime:
2:00 PM
Doors open 30 minutes before screening.
Location:
AMC NEWCITY14
1500 N. Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60610
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