This film, the first part of a sci-fi trilogy from up-and-coming
filmmaker HASEGAWA Yokna, imagines the Japan of the near
future as a divided nation-one where conflict rages in the north
while peace, at least for the time being, abides in the south. Kids
in the south, however, are doing “illumination,” a new drug that
lets them “trip” through time. The protagonist, who exudes a
freewheeling, devil-may-care attitude, loses his close friend to the
war in the north-and the narrative follows his ensuing internal
struggle to accept that reality. Hasegawa eschews traditional
battle scenes and futuristic prop devices in favor of a more
realistic perspective, vividly capturing the youth of tomorrow’s
Japan in their search for an escape.

HASEGAWA Yokna, illuminations, 2014 / 61 min. / Dialogue in Japanese (with English subtitles)