"Girl Encounter," an indie film that was selected for the Hong Kong Film Festival despite being an unusual choice, will be released nationwide from June 30th at Shinjuku Musashinokan, Aeon Cinema Itabashi, and other theaters.

©2017 "Girl Encounter" Film Partners
"Girl Encounter" was produced for MOOSICLAB2017, a springboard for young filmmakers and musicians. All seven screenings at the festival were sold out, winning the Audience Award. The trailer, released in May 2017, has been viewed over 1.62 million times, creating a buzz on social media, especially in Asia. The director is Eda Yuka, whose 2013 film "Goodbye Spica" won the Audience Award and Special Jury Prize at the Waseda Film Festival when she was a university student. The film stars Hoshi Moeka, a beautiful girl with a translucent look who was the winner of the Miss iD 2016 Grand Prix and whose presence was praised by singer Omori Seiko, and Motola Serina, a model for fashion magazine Soen who became a hot topic after appearing on the cover of RADWIMPS' album "Ningen Kaika." The music that adds luster to the pair, who were selected from over 200 applicants, is provided by Mizumoto Natsue, a musician who previously performed under the name "Tenkousei."


This film, directed by the young 23-year-old up-and-coming director Yuka Eda, is based on her own experiences at age 14. After being bullied, Obara Miyuri (Hoshi Moeka) lost her voice, unable to assert herself or dare to cut her wrists to send out an SOS to those around her. Her only friend is a silkworm she found in the mountains. She names it "Tsumugi" and secretly raises it with care. "You'll help me if I'm in trouble, right, Tsumugi?" Miyuri always hoped that one day someone would come and rescue her from this cramped and suffocating reality. One day, Shimizu, a bully, finds out about the silkworms and abandons her. Having lost her only friend, Miyuri is in despair, but the next day, a girl named Tomita Tsumugi (Motola Serina) transfers to her school.

©2017 "Girl Encounter" Film Partners
Based on the director's own experience of being bullied, which left her with "selective mutism" and unable to speak, "Girl Encounter" (2017) Film Partners has created a brutal yet dazzling coming-of-age film about girls whose appearances and personalities change like silkworms. This film has been generating a lot of buzz both in Japan and overseas even before its general release. Why not go see it at the cinema?