Juri Fukushima

21st Century Girl is an omnibus feature that is of the girls, by the girls and for the girls. The work of 15 women directors under the age of 30, each of whom contributed an 8-minute film, the package highlights a range of genres, visions and thematic concerns.

One snowy night, in a mountain hut, Minokichi, a hunter, sees a snow woman killing his mentor Mosaku. “Should you tell anyone, I will take your life” she says, then drifts off. A year later, Minokichi meets and marries a beauty named Yuki. She bears him a daughter, Ume. 14 years pass and Ume blossoms into a radiant lady who befriends the sickly Mikio, the village leader’s son and Mosaku’s distant relative. Mikio soon dies in the same hut as Mosaku, with his body showing the same frostbite scars. Minokichi is reminded of that horrid night, and wonders what it was that he saw, and who Yuki really is.

Whimsical film in which students and teachers come together during a weekend for a wedding. The film flutters back and forth between the various characters and their feelings until the wedding starts. Shot in the old beach hotel where the great Ozu wrote his screenplays. © iffr.com

One day in Spring, a college student Sayaka visits Shonan with Yui. Sayaka is secretly attracted to Yui, but Yui's best friend Momoko was waiting for them. The three girls started to stay at a holiday villa by the beach. Sayaka's anger and disdain towards Yui intensify as she finds it hard to keep up the pace with Yui and Momoko and there was an uncomfortable feeling among them. At the same time, there was Akihiro who was invited to the same villa to play at a party. While the girls enjoy chatting about Akihiro, he became interested in Sayaka and tries to attract her. Meanwhile, a Korean international student Min Jun cajoles Yona, who came to visit colleges for her study abroad, to come to the villa with him.