IFFI 52, 035: Ring Wandering aims to show the real Tokyo

The Ring Wandering (Ringu Wandaringu) is a film about a Manga artist in Tokyo discovering the remains of the Second World war buried in the grounds of Tokyo. The film from Japan competed for the Golden Peacock Award, along with 14 other films, at the 52nd International Film Festival of India.

Masakazu Kaneko, the director of the film, said, “During the Second World War, lots of bombs were dropped on Tokyo leaving many dead bodies in the ground. Not all of them were identified and given proper funerals. I believe the souls of these people are still there.”

Often cited as the most destructive act of war in the Second World War, the bombing of Tokyo left many people killed and many areas destroyed. Though the war is not shown in the movie, the director tried to show the scars the war left on the minds of the people of Tokyo.

“Now all we see around Tokyo are skyscrapers and bullet trains, modern architecture and technology. But I wanted to show the real Tokyo through this film”, Kaneko said.  

The film-maker reminds us that it is not a war film. It focusses upon human relationships and how humans should think beyond the things that we understand. Kaneko reinforced the idea of forging better relationships within us, in the film.  He said, “We have reached the highest pinnacles of civilisation but at the same time it is important to remember our rich history and heritage.”

Ring Wandering was also officially selected for the Warsaw International Film Festival in 2021. Kaneko’s first feature film, The Albino’s Trees, premièred at Beijing Film Festival, and it won 20 awards worldwide. This is his second film. 

Yutaka Nakayama, the Executive Producer of the movie, said that he wanted to support movies based on nature and human relationships. “I watched Kaneko’s last film, The Albino’s Trees, and I thought more people should watch his genius and unique work on screen”, he said. 

The film will be released in Japan in February, next year, the director informed.

The cast and crew of the movie consists of Masakazu Kaneko and Genki Yoshimura,sScreenplay writers, Koichi Furuya, director of photography, Masakazu Kaneko, editor and Shô Kasamatsu, Junko Abe and Ken Yasuda, among others, as actors.

The film went on to win the Golden Peacock.