7.23 (Wed)Competition
Over the Mountains
- Onsite
- 7.23 (Wed) 10:30 Audio Visual Hall
Featuring: Over the Mountains, Another Day to Stay Alive, Mimesis, and Lucky Strike
©Shota Kashiwai
Director: Kisa ITO
Cast: Ryunosuke AZUMA, Yoshi SAKOU
2025 / Japan / 15min.
Beneath the winter sky, a young man runs through the snowfields. While trying to cross a mountain without any equipment, he stumbles upon an elderly man beside a weathered car. The two unnamed men share some quiet moments on this unknown wintry mountain. Touched by the story of this old man tormented by illness, the young man finds the resolve to keep moving forward. The director, Kisa Ito has been highly regarded at film festivals since his student years. Currently, he serves as an assistant director to renowned directors such as Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takahisa Zeze, Izuru Narushima and Yoji Yamada. The movie is based on “Über den Bergen”, a poem by Carl Busse and portrays two men’s serene journeys to find happiness on the other side of the mountains. It stars Ryunosuke Azuma who gained notice with his roles in various TV series and movies, alongside famous supporting actor Yoshi Sakou. Over the Mountains will have its world premiere at this festival.
Director: Kisa ITO
Born in 1995 in Osaka Prefecture. Kisa Ito studied filmmaking in the Department of Cinema at Nihon University College of Art. Since graduating, he has gained experience directing movies by taking on freelancing jobs as an assistant director for Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takahisa Zeze, Izuru Narushima and Yoji Yamada. His movie Awakeless Dream (17) was shown at Kanazawa Film Festival 2017 and was followed by his art project for graduation Hello, Shrew! (18) that was screened at the 10th Okinawa International Movie Festival. He also directed episodes 17-23 for the TV series “Memories: The Nurses’ Story” (20).
Message
I read the poem “Über den Bergen” when I was still in junior high school. I kept wondering about the fate of the poem’s protagonist who wished for happiness but found nothing on the other side of the mountain. How did he live after that? This question stayed with me to this day. Seven years have passed since I decided I wanted to make films and started working in the film industry. Now that I am approaching 30, the poem crossed my mind again. Like the younger man in the film, I attempted to cross that symbolic mountain by making this film.
