Film adaptation of Award-winning TV documentary

Storyline:
A tiny life takes on a life or death challenge amid the majestic grandeur of the Tateyama mountain range. Can a swan muster the courage to survive if it is unable to fly? A story sure to deepen your appreciation of life’s power and wonder.
In late autumn, over 800 swans from Siberia soar in to Toyama Prefecture in Japan’s Hokuriku region to wait out the winter months before heading back home again. In the spring of 2018, however, one particular swan with a broken wing was left behind unable to fly. It was spotted by bird watcher, Hirokazu Sawae (then 57), who has long been captivated by the grace and beauty of the swan and spends his time capturing their exploits with his video camera. Feeling for the injured swan, Sawae takes to feeding and monitoring its recovery, saying: “I want the bird to be able to rejoin his flock come next winter.” But nature is unforgiving and the law of the jungle still hold sway. Sawae had never seen a wild swan survive the sweltering heat of Toyama before. This will challenge every ounce of resourcefulness he and the swan can muster. In the process of the struggle, Sawae began to view the swan as a projection of himself. “It was as if the swan filled a hole in my heart.” “I am human, but I began to feel myself becoming a swan - one swan taking care of another.” Perhaps this allayed some of the hesitation Sawae felt about interfering with nature. Will the injured swan be reunited with his flock? Or will it take a miracle?

Awards: (TV documentary)
US International Film & Video Festival – Gold Camera
New York Festivals® TV & Film Awards - Finalist

The 2015 best-seller novel by Miu Kakiya has been adapted to film by director Tetsu Maeda (“A Banana? At This Time of Night?”). As of April, 2020, the book has sold over 260,000 copies.
In Japan, it is said you need 20 million yen saved up for retirement. Though everyone has their worries about the future, not many openly talk about it. This film comically depicts this problem through the eyes of a respectable-looking family that’s actually a bit dysfunctional.

The main character, Atsuko, is your average housewife who believes in frugality. She has a husband, Akira, who’s quite clueless about the family budget, a daughter who works part-time, and a son in college. Though Atsuko had been saving up for retirement, she gets in an argument with her sister-in-law and her husband one day, and she ends up having to pay 4 million yen for her father-in-law’s funeral. As if that’s not enough, her husband’s company goes bankrupt, she gets fired from her part-time job, her daughter wishes for a lavish wedding with her fiancé who’s in a heavy metal band, and her big-spending mother-in-law moves in. The family’s savings dwindle by the day.
Problems between husband and wife, parent and child, wife and mother-in-law, a child’s marriage, a child moving out, caring for a parent, and funerals… These are all problems that everyone faces. As the family is hit by one dilemma after another, they struggle and torment themselves in order to overcome adversity.

Hikari Tomonaga has just entered high school at Central High in Fukui Prefecture and has joined the school’s cheerdancing team of instruction includes a prohibition against everything from covering your forehead to romance and anything that may distract focus and energy from the goal of winning a national championship in the U.S. Hikari watches as one member after another buckles under the pressure and drops out, but she herself, with the support of another freshman teammate, Ayano, decides to stick with it. But will this ordinary high school teen be able to help lead her team to an all American cheerdancing championship?