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Kefi brings three sisters’ loss and surreal humour to Tokyo

Saito Kisin’s debut feature Kefi is screening in Tokyo’s Nippon Cinema Now programme. Its three sisters face their father’s death through a story that mixes surreal humour and contrasting visual styles. Saito drew on his own family and his father’s death in 2024, reworking a project originally planned around four groups of short films.

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Over a projectionist’s shoulder, a digital cinema projector points through a booth window during a Tokyo screening of Kefi.

A first feature screens in Nippon Cinema Now

Kefi, cinematographer Saito Kisin’s first feature as director, is screening in Nippon Cinema Now, the Tokyo International Film Festival’s programme for contemporary Japanese cinema. Its story follows three sisters confronting their father’s death. Saito has discussed the project at the festival.[1], [2]

He originally planned four groups of short films addressing ethics, hypocrisy, discrimination, and life and death. The youngest of three brothers, he recast the family structure as three sisters. His father’s death in 2024 then changed the project’s direction.[1]

Three sisters take separate paths through loss

Eldest sister Kyo, middle sister Asumi and youngest sister Kino learn of their father’s death at the opening. He had lived apart from them since their parents divorced. Saito said he had also spent a long time without seeing his own father and wanted to depict differing responses to loss. The sisters spend much of the film apart before an episode reunites them; aliens, dinosaurs and imagined relationships accompany its oddball humour.[1]

One filmmaker handles the camera, light and edit

Vivid colour alternates with monochrome, and restless handheld images sit alongside steadier shots. Saito said he tried different methods rather than assigning each visual style a theme in advance. He also wrote, photographed, lit and edited the film. Having worked behind the camera on larger productions, he described preferring a small team of trusted collaborators and casting friends in his own work.[1]

References

  1. News sourceVarietySaito Kisin mixes forms for three sisters’ loss in Kefi↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News source映画情報どっとこむ (Eigajoho)Kefi director Saito Kisin holds a Q&A at Tokyo Film Festival↩

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