Film Forum

The Young Film Forum (YFF) Archive Dive: AFTER LIFE

1998 · JAPAN · 119 min

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Hirokazu Kore-eda’s AFTER LIFE returns to Film Forum as part of our regular series, the Young Film Forum (YFF) Archive Dive. Monday morning and a new week begins. The caseworkers arrive, punch in, and start processing 22 new arrivals. One by one, cases are assigned and interviews begin. But this is no ordinary social service agency; it is a waystation for the newly dead. Here the clerks help them select one cherished memory—the single memory that will travel with them for eternity. The interviews are honest, funny, and, at times, heartbreaking. One man recalls a summer breeze blowing through a trolley car. A young girl remembers resting her head in her mother’s lap. For an old woman, it is the memory of cherry blossoms falling. AFTER LIFE is a bittersweet paean to the beauty and fragility of everyday life. Originally programmed by Karen Cooper and Mike Maggiore for Film Forum THE YFF ARCHIVE DIVE is a screening series programmed especially for YFF, curated from FF’s rich 55-year history of first-run premieres. The series introduces important, challenging works and underseen masterpieces to members in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s. Learn about YFF here. YFF-eligible members, please email jesse@filmforum.org for details on this and future YFF gatherings.