Dreamy Fifteen

In the organizer's words:

翔んだカップル Tonda kappuru

Director: SÔMAI Shinji
1980, 106 minutes, OmeU, 16 mm

Sômai's directorial debut is based on the award-winning manga series of the same name by Yanagisawa Kimio, which appeared in a weekly magazine for boys from 1978 to 1981 and revolves around the joys and sorrows of adolescence. It depicts the emotional turmoil between a boy and a girl who suddenly have to live in the same house.

Yûsuke dreams of becoming a lawyer and goes to Tokyo to attend a prestigious high school. He moves into his uncle's house, but it is far too big for him alone, so a male roommate is needed. Due to a mistake by the estate agent, the new lodger turns out to be the prettiest girl in the school. Yûsuke is threatened with expulsion if his flat-sharing arrangement with Kei is discovered, and his classmates also struggle with fears and longings.

Film series
Director Sômai Shinji (1948-2001)
A sensitive master of long takes

Sômai Shinji is considered one of the great poets among Japanese directors. His visually powerful films are characterized by long takes, which he uses to sensitively address life and death, the challenges of growing up, family and friendship, togetherness and loneliness.

Sômai rose to prominence in Japan in the 1980s, when the film industry was struggling to find its feet after the collapse of the traditional studio system. During this transitional phase, he acted as a pioneer in the era of independent directing. In Japan, his work is highly regarded and has won numerous awards; important directors such as Hamaguchi Ryûsuke, Koreeda Hirokazu and Kurosawa Kiyoshi were influenced by him. For a long time, Sômai was little known outside Japan, but his work has been rediscovered and enthusiastically received by critics and audiences, especially in recent years, after Ohikkoshi (Moving) won the Venice Classics Award for Best Restored Film at the Venice International Film Festival in 2023.

Sômai Shinji was born on January 13, 1948 in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. After dropping out of law school, he began working as an assistant director at the Nikkatsu production company in 1972, where he worked with directors such as Hasegawa Kazuhiko and Terayama Shûji. He worked freelance from 1975 to 1979 and made his directorial debut in 1980 with Tonda kappuru (Dreamy fifteen). In 1982, Sômai founded the production company "Director's Company" together with other young filmmakers, which produced the style-defining film Taifû kurabu (Typhoon Club), among others. The breadth of his work ranges from the box office success Sêrâ fuku to kikanjû (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun) to moving dramas such as Ohikkoshi (Moving) and the melancholy road movie Kazahana (KAZA-HANA).

Between 1980 and 2001, Sômai directed 13 feature films, ten of which are presented here, including digitally restored versions. The series is complemented by the groundbreaking thriller Taiyô o nusunda otoko (The Man Who Stole the Sun) by Hasegawa Kazuhiko, Sômai's great mentor.

On September 9, 2001, Sômai died of cancer at the age of only 53.

Parts of the series will also be shown in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich.

Supported by JTI

Price information:

Admission free