The Last Passenger (2023)

The Last Passenger

The Last Passenger (2023)

An original movie by Miyagi creators and 100% made in Miyagi. 

With a Live Sidewalk Performance by Bentenya at 6:30pm!

Film Starts 7:30pm with live introduction with Director Takashi Horie

Event includes a post-screening reception party in the gardens of the Velaslavasay Panorama.

Tickets $16 / VPES Members $14

On March 11, 2011, The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami hit Sendai, Miyagi. It destroyed many towns in the coastal area in Northeastern part of Japan, and claimed almost 16,000 lives. It has been 12 years since, and this film remembers that fateful day so we can continue to think about it in the future. 

The Last Passenger

The Last Passenger

Mr. Endo, a taxi driver, has been waiting for his daughter since she left to take a college exam in Tokyo on the day of the earthquake. One late night, Mr. Endo picks up several customers, including a mother with a young girl and another young girl about around the same age as his own daughter. They all ask him to take them to Seaside town. What will they find in Seaside town?

 Watch the film trailer

DIRECTOR

TAKASHI HORIE is a New York-based independent filmmaker, born in Sendai, Miyagi. His first short film, Ordinary Days was nominated and premiered at Artemis Film Festival in April 2017, and screened at New Hope Film Festival in July 2017. His new film, The Last Passenger, was nominated in Montreal independent film festival, and won Best Independent Film awards in San Diego Art Film Festivals.

BENTENYA

Donning glamorous kimonos and colorful wigs, Bentenya (the chindon girls) debuted in 2021 with a captivating chindon sound that blended nostalgia and modernity. Going beyond the traditional chindon style, they have taken on acting and shows at the Gionza and Nagoya Chukyo theaters. Their approachable demeanor is nostalgic to the older generation, refreshing for the younger crowd, and beloved by children. Their unique, electricity-free, sustainable form involves only voices and live instruments. Bentenya's triumphant journey of spreading smiles and joy to street corners around the world has only just begun. In 2020, they were appointed as Nagoya Tourism Ambassadors.