WOMAN IN THE DUNES (1964) by Hiroshi Teshigahara. Japanese cinema

If you'd like to attend, please indicate it, but only if you're pretty certain of going. The events are unique and convivial and we always meet afterwards at Hurley's Irish pub for discussion.

WOMAN IN THE DUNES (Suna No Onna)
(1964, Japan, 123 min., 16mm, English Subs.) Hiroshi Teshigahara
In an isolated barren countryside, an entomologist becomes the prisoner of a strange widow living at the base of a large and inescapable sand pit. Like many early films of the Japanese New Wave, SUNA NO ONNA combines eroticism and philosophical reflection. Director Teshigahara plunges us into a sensual world of heat, sand, sweat and sex, as the absurd nightmarish battle against the ever-threatening sand becomes a potent metaphor for the human condition.
Rendered with an invasively modern visual language fitting of Japan's post-war social transformations, the film questions liberty, free will, conscience and individuality. Equally as vehement and troubling is the battle of the sexes, fueled by contrasting ways of life and feelings that are irredeemably opposed.
At one time a painter, potter and master of floral arrangement (ikebana), Teshigahara was a meticulous writer and composer of images. His direction is carried along by the minimalist music of Toru Takemitsu (RAN by Kurosawa) while actors Eiji Okida (HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR by Renais) and Kyôko Kishida (who has worked with greats such as Ozu and Ichikawa) put in deeply passionate performances. This near-perfect film is without a doubt one of the great masterpieces of Japanese cinema.
Guest speaker: Anne Kmetyko is a filmmaker whose work explores themes of identity, memory, and the human condition. Her latest self-produced short film, If…Then…Now… (Si seulement… peut-être), has been selected for 15 international festivals to date, including the San Francisco Short Film Festival and the 56th WorldFest Houston, where it won a Bronze Remi Award, 3rd place in the People Choice Award at The Ealing Film Fest.

An emerging talent, Anne was selected for the Talent Lab at the Reykjavik International Film Festival in Iceland (2023) and for respected development programs, including the Nantucket Screenwriters Sessions (2025), Stowe Story Labs (2024), and the Stowe Features Campus (2024–25). She is also part of the 2024 cohort of the Canadian Academy’s Screenwriters Pitch program.
She is currently developing her first feature film, The Space Between (Entre Deux), along with the web series Murray Hill and the short Iris.

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