Japan,Spain / 2024 / 73 min Director：UWAGAWA Hikaru
This film is divided into three sections. The first takes as its subject a Russian mother and her eight-year-old child living alone in Madrid. In the second, a Japanese man meets a young Basque woman. They spend time together and she introduces him to her friends. In the third part, the setting shifts to Japan where a young man returns to his childhood home during the Obon season to prepare for welcoming the spirit of his deceased grandfather alongside his grandmother. As the title suggests, the film incorporates the formal ideas of James Joyce's Ulysses, and is broadly adapted from Homer's Odyssey, which Ulysses was heavily based on. It goes without saying that it is not simply a retelling of the challenging homecoming journey of the Greek hero, but rather the stories unfold around concepts of “home” and “belonging,” presenting fragments of everyday life from various parts of the world in a subtle style that leaves room for ambiguity. The film premiered at the Marseille International Film Festival (FIDMarseille) and was subsequently screened at the San Sebastián Film Festival.
UWAGAWA Hikaru completed his Master’s degree in Filmmaking at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola in San Sebastián, Spain. In 2023, he was selected for the Ikusmira Berriak residency program for filmmakers at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. His debut feature film Ulysses was officially screened at both the Marseille International Film Festival (FIDMarseille) and the San Sebastián International Film Festival. He is currently based in Tokyo, where he continues his filmmaking career.
