Archive of films Small, Slow but Steady / Keiko, me wo sumasete

Japan / France
2022, 99 min

Section: People Next Door
Year: 2022

The young boxer Keiko was born with a hearing impairment, and yet she has successfully gone professional. Her style is characterized by a calm energy, but also uncertainties. Will this fragile young woman stumble beneath the blows of life, or will she win her inner battle? This surprisingly poetic film about boxing comes with a reputation as an unassuming gem from this year’s Berlinale.


Synopsis

Boxing can be approached in a forceful and self-centered manner. But young Keiko, who was born with a hearing impairment and only recently began fighting professionally, is different. She shows others respect to the point that it looks like she doesn’t want to dominate over them. She radiates a calm energy that can be bested perhaps only by her own uncertainties. After two victories, she faces a difficult third bout, but the fragile young woman is overcome by fear and loses the will to fight. What is more, the local gym that has become her second home is at risk of being shut down. Will Keiko stumble beneath the blows of life, or will she win her inner battle? This surprisingly poetic film about boxing comes with a reputation as an unassuming gem from this year’s Berlinale.

Martin Horyna

About the director

Shô Miyake

Shô Miyake (1984, Hokkaido, Japan). Selected filmography: Playback (2012), And Your Bird Can Sing (Kimi no tori wa utaeru, 2018), Small, Slow but Steady (Keiko, me wo sumasete, 2022).

About the film

Color, DCP

Section: People Next Door
   
Director: Shô Miyake
Screenplay: Shô Miyake, Masaaki Sakai
Dir. of Photography: Yuta Tsukinaga
Sound: Takamitsu Kawai
Editor: Keiko Okawa
Art Director: Shinpei Inoue
Producer: Koichiro Fukushima, Masahiro Handa, Keisuke Konishi, Masa Sawada
Production: Nagoya Broadcasting Network
Coproduction: Comme des Cinémas
Cast: Yukino Kishii, Tomokazu Miura
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