Special Actors

Following the unexpected and immense success of his breakout indie debut film One Cut of the Dead (2017), director Shinichiro Ueda delivers another inventive comedy with an ensemble cast of mostly unknown workshop actors in a meta-narrative full of playful twists. Painfully shy and prone to stress-induced fainting spells, Kazuto (Kazuto Osawa) nevertheless has dreams of being an actor. After a chance run-in with his brother, he joins an unusual agency that hires out actors to play people in real life. Before long, a young woman comes to the actors with a desperate plea to help save her family’s inn from the clutches of a pseudo-religious cult named Musubiru—requiring a high-stakes sting operation that involves acting their way into the shady organization’s inner circle. But can Kazuto handle the pressure? Co-presented with The Japan Foundation, New York

Available streaming territory: U.S. only

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→View the Opening Night Live Q&A on July 17