The Night I Swam

The Night I Swam (Japanese: 泳ぎすぎた夜, Hepburn: Oyogi sugita yoru, French: Takara, la nuit où j'ai nagé) is a 2017 French-Japanese co-production drama film directed by Kohei Igarashi and Damien Manivel. The film was featured at a number of International Film Festivals during its release, including the Febiofest film festival in Prague 2018,[2] the Sofia Film Festival [3] and the BUFF film Festival [4]

The Night I Swam
International poster
Japanese name
Kanji泳ぎすぎた夜
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnOyogi sugita yoru
Directed by
Produced by
  • Martin Bertier
  • Damien Manivel
Starring
  • Takara Kogawa
  • Keiki Kogawa
  • Takashi Kogawa
  • Chisato Kogawa
CinematographyWataru Takahashi
Edited byWilliam Laboury
Music byJérôme Petit
Production
companies
  • MLD Films
  • Shellac
  • Nobo (JP)
Distributed by
  • Shellac Distribution
  • Tycoon Distribuzione
Release dates
  • 5 September 2017 (2017-09-05) (Venice)
  • 24 February 2018 (2018-02-24) (Japan)
Running time
79 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Japan
Box officeUS$20,440[1]

Plot

A 6-year-old boy is awoken one night by his fisherman father heading to work. Finding it impossible to fall back to sleep, he draws a picture which he then slips into his satchel. On his way to school next morning, still drowsy, he wanders off the path and ends up lost in the snow. The boy gets on a train, ending up in a big city, and endeavours to find his way home.[5]

Cast

  • Takara Kogawa as Little Boy
  • Keiki Kogawa as sister
  • Takashi Kogawa as Father
  • Chisato Kogawa as Mother

Production

The film was shot in location in Aomori, Japan, as a French-Japanese co-production. The film had no actual dialogue, with only the sounds of the actions of the main character.

Festivals and awards

The film featured at a number of festivals including:

The film was nominated for a number of awards, winning one:

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
2017Venice Film FestivalOrizzonti awardsThe Night I SwamNominated[8][9]
2017Tokyo FilmexStudent Jury PrizeThe Night I SwamWon[10]
2018International Film Festival for Children and YouthGolden Butterfly for Best Feature Film ScreenplayDamien Manivel and Kohei IgarashiWon

References