The fourth open-air Evenings on Campus film, Nobody Knows (12) is being screened on Tuesday by the Koperattiva Kulturali Universitarja in collaboration with the Malta University Film Club, with the coordination of Dr Salvu Catania and KPMG.
The film has stunning performances from its child actors (one of whom, Yuya Yagira, was named as Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004), and has been described by critics worldwide as a touching drama exploring the vulnerability of children as well as the innocent kindness and courage of which they can be capable. Dr Salvu Catania will open the discussion after the film.
Hirokazu Kore-eda, writer and director of the international success After Life, works on the dramatic story of a family dealing with a very unusual situation, an odyssey, a journey nobody knows. Keiko (You) is a single mother who moves with her 12-year-old son, Akira (Yuya Yagira), into a small flat. However, what the building management does not know is that Kieko also has three other children, all fathered by different men.
One day, Akira finds a note with an envelope full of money from his mother, saying that she will be away for some time and that he has to stay in charge while she is gone. Akira is not very surprised because it is not the first time that this has happened. Hence the 12-year-old boy starts seeing that the bills are paid, Kyoko, who is 10 years of age, takes care of the housework while the youngest children take care of one another.
Weeks go by and the mother does not return home. Even though short of money, the children act with their neighbours as if their mother is still with them but the more time goes by, the more the situation starts getting complicated.
The children’s innocent longing for their mother, their inarticulate cries, their kindness to each other and their determination to survive on wits and courage, are dramatically portrayed in the film.
Hirokazu Kore-eda was inspired by actual events known in Japan as “The Affair of the Four Abandoned Children of Nishi-Sugamo”, although Kore-eda’s version differs considerably from what occurred in real life.
The film distributed by KRS.
Tickets are priced at Lm2 for adults and Lm1.50 for students, children and film club members. They can be purchased at the door or from the Communications Office, Room 119, Administration Building, on campus, the offices of the Malta Council for the Arts and Culture, NSTS, Sapienzas Bookshop and Agenda Bookshops or online by visiting www.teatrumanoel.com .