Today from 18:00-21.00 hrs, the UvA Film Club will host their next screening in HVL/BuzzHouse’s Co-Working Space! This week's film is Only Yesterday (dir. Isao Takahata, 1991), with an introduction by Enrico Maria Gennari.

Memories are a mysterious and fascinating concept. Sometimes, we try to remember a specific moment, a person’s face, or a particular smell. But most of the time, a memory resurfaces without our wanting it to. In Only Yesterday (おもひでぽろぽろ), we follow 28-year-old Taeko as her trip to the countryside morphs into a journey in her own past. Taeko is in a strange moment in her life. She isn’t married, which is unusual for a woman her age in 1982 Japan; she lives and works in Tokyo, but dreams about life in the countryside; she doubts her future and unconsciously looks for answers in her past. Isao Takahata was a master of animation. In this film, he uses gorgeous close-ups of mundane objects and precise, mechanical gestures to convey their profound meaning to the characters. Through Taeko, he explores life in post-war Japan, a girl’s struggle with puberty and love, and a woman’s search for meaning. You will love this film if you like Yasujirō Ozu’s works, especially Late Spring (晩春). Expect the flawless drawings and animation (those flowers, those trees!) you see in every Studio Ghibli film, with a more realistic setting and plot.