Cottontail (2024)

After the death of his wife, Kenzaburo (60s) and his son Toshi (30s) receive an unexpected letter from beyond the grave. Akiko, their wife and mother, asks them to scatter her ashes at the place she loved most as a child – Lake Windermere in England. Surprised by this unexpected request, father and son are initially at loggerheads over their next steps.

The two men, along with Toshi’s wife Satsuki and young daughter Emi, eventually travel together to England from Tokyo to fulfil Akiko’s final wish. But Kenzaburo keeps losing himself in memories of Akiko as his relationship with Toshi becomes increasingly fraught. With little knowledge of where he is going and barely any English, Kenzaburo abandons his family in London and heads to the Lake District on his own with Akiko’s ashes.

As he embarks on his quest, his memories of Akiko grow more painful. A lost and weary Kenzaburo stumbles onto the doorstep of a farmer, John, and his daughter Mary. With their help, Kenzaburo is finally able to set course once again toward Lake Windemere. But his true journey toward forgiveness and reconciliation will prove the hardest of all.

Dir. Patrick Dickinson, Japan/UK, 2023, 94 mins. With Lily Franky, Ryo Nishikido, Ciarán Hinds, Aoife Hinds

Certificate 12A

You may also like the following events from Bridport Arts Centre:

• Next month, 9th May, 08:00 pm, Jazz | Celebrating Miles Davis in Bridport
• Next month, 22nd May, 07:30 pm, The Road to Patagonia (2024) in Bridport
• This June, 6th June, 07:30 pm, Fire & Dust | Reg Meuross – A Woodie Guthrie Story in Bridport

Also check out other Workshops in Bridport.