Matsumura Shingo discusses low-budget film "Between Us" at Tokyo Festival

Matsumura Shingo’s new drama “Between Us” opened on Monday in the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Nippon Cinema Now strand, a showcase for contemporary Japanese films. The story follows childhood friends Makoto and Kasumi, who drift apart after a traumatic incident on a joint family camping trip and reunite six years later, confronting lingering emotional wounds that echo the nation’s recent disasters.

The film arrives at a moment when Japanese cinema is re‑examining the social fallout of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Audiences and critics have been seeking narratives that move beyond news headlines to the personal scars left by loss, displacement and broken community ties. Matsumura, known for crafting intimate stories on shoestring budgets, has built a reputation for turning financial limits into creative strengths, a model that many indie filmmakers now emulate as studio funding shrinks.

“Between Us” was shot in 18 days with a budget of roughly ¥30 million ($190,000), using natural lighting and handheld cameras to heighten its raw feeling. The film’s quiet moments—Makoto’s hesitant silence at a shrine, Kasumi’s half‑spoken apology on a train platform—have resonated with festival viewers, who praised its unflinching look at how ordinary people rebuild trust after trauma. Matsumura said the camping trip’s accident is a stand‑in for any sudden, life‑changing event, allowing the audience to project their own experiences of loss onto the characters. Critics noted the film’s restrained score and the chemistry between the leads as its strongest assets.

The director plans to release “Between Us” in Japanese theaters this winter, followed by a limited run in select overseas art houses. Its festival exposure could position it for a spot in next year’s Japan Academy Awards, and it may boost calls for more public funding of low‑budget projects that tackle social issues. If the film finds a wider audience, it could signal a shift toward more personal, disaster‑focused storytelling in an industry still grappling with shrinking resources.