Festival Note
Ami (Mihaya Shirata) believes that her father has been lying to her about her mother’s death. She travels to Japan and finds herself on a road trip with her uncle (Masatoshi Nagase), chasing ghosts and apparitions on the way to discovering painful truths about love and loss. Writer and director Nicole Midori Woodford seamlessly integrates supernatural elements in this quiet, dreamy coming-of-age story that displays a profound understanding of a distinctly Asian relationship with the afterlife.
Naniniwala si Ami (Mihaya Shirata) na nagsisinungaling ang kanyang ama tungkol sa pagkamatay ng kanyang ina. Naglalakbay siya sa Japan at nadala sa isang road trip kasama ang kanyang tiyuhin (Masatoshi Nagase), naghahabol sa mga multo at mga aparisyon patungo sa pagtuklas ng masasakit na katotohanan tungkol sa pag-ibig at pagkawala. Walang putol na isinasalin ng manunulat at direktor na si Nicole Midori Woodford ang mga supernatural na elemento sa isang tahimik at mala-panaginip na coming-of-age story na nagpapakita ng malalim na pag-unawa sa isang natatanging relasyong Asyano sa kabilang buhay.
Nicole Midori Woodford (Singapore, 1986) has written, directed and edited the short films For We Are Strangers (2015), a competitor at the Busan and Singapore festivals, Waiting Room (2018), Tenebrae (2018) and Permanent Resident (2018), selected among other festivals for Clermont-Ferrand and Busan. In 2021 she directed The Excursion, an episode of the HBO mini-series Asia Folklore, premiered at Tokyo Festival. She has studied at Berlinale Talents, the Asian Film Academy, Torino Film Lab and Talents Tokyo. Last Shadow at First Light is her feature-length debut.