Acting
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.
Yumeka (Kanon Nawata) whiles away her time making art in a studio left to her by her grandmother, though it appears she’s not attached to the art and may not find real value in it. She sleeps with men easily but seems empty of emotion in general. Even more in a shell is her university friend Tomoko (En Nakagami), a clean freak who cannot get involved with men. Yumeka suggests Tomoko have a tryst with their friend Takaya, but Tomoko is naturally less than interested. She does, however, take up Yumeka’s suggestion to take a job at a softcore porn movie theater and this sets of a chain of events the film follows. There she meets Kyoichi (Ryusuke Fujiwara), a young man who prostitutes himself. The thoroughly opposite Tomoko is intrigued.
Now in the final chapter of life, Ito can often be found standing under a tall, 500-year-old ginkgo tree. Traumatized by an air raid she experienced 75 years ago, Ito has been unable to recall the events of one fateful day. Ever since then, she cannot help but feel she has forgotten something important. One day, the ginkgo tree triggers a memory: her promise to elope with her boyfriend. As she remembers her 16-year-old self, she heads to the trysting spot for their escape. The long-ago promise they made, risking their lives, now reunites their fractured time and space.
