The Red Spot (German Title: Der Rote Punkt)



The Japanese student Aki Onodera travels in her family’s tracks from Tokyo to Germany. In idyllic East Allgaeu she meets the Webers, who take her in as their guest. But soon, the situation of the family becomes turbulent by her appearance…

The young Japanese student Aki Onodera is haunted by dreams of long-lost memories from her early childhood. While she should really be concentrating on finding a job after her studies, instead she goes to her parents’ house and discovers an old package from a foreign land tucked away in a storage closet. An old camera containing film and a yellowed envelope with a letter and a map of a foreign country with a red spot marking a particular location seem to be the key to her dreams.

Despite her parents’ and boyfriend’s apprehension, she travels alone to Germany to look for this place. On her search in the idyllic East Allgaeu area, she goes to the local police station looking for help, where the 18-year-old Elias Weber is being questioned. When Elias’ father comes to the police station to pick him up, the policeman asks him to take the Japanese girl with them, as the place she is looking for is near their house.

Father and son drop Aki off near the edge of a forest and drive home. After dinner, Elias takes off with his sister to pick up his motorcycle from the police station and they run into the Japanese girl, who, drenched from the rain, is desperately looking for a place to stay for the night. They take her into town, and after not being able to find a hotel room, they take her back home with them and offer her their guest room.

The next day, Elias helps Aki look for the location on the map where the red mark is. According to Aki, there is supposed to be a memorial stone there for Aki’s biological family, who died at that spot 18 years ago. Later on that evening, Elias gets into a hefty argument with his father which then turns physical. Elias runs out of the house, followed by his father who already has a guilty conscience about hitting his son. Although it is not her intention, Aki’s presence and the search for the past seem to intensify the tension among the Weber family and finally lead to light being shed on family secret.

When Aki finally finds the spot she has been looking for, everyone involved must come to terms with the past in order to make way for a new beginning…

Feature Film, 35mm, 82 Minutes
Director and Editor: Marie Miyayama
Screenplay: Marie Miyayama, Christoph Tomkewitsch
Director of Photography: Oliver Sachs
Casting: Hanna Hansen, Kinya Yagi
Music by: Helmut Sinz
Production Design: Gabriele Mai, Shinjii Shimizu
Principal Cast: Yuki Inomata, Hans Kremer, Orlando Klaus, Imke Büchel, Zora Thiessen, Shinya Owada, Mikiko Otonashi, Yuu Saitô, Tôru Minegishi, Toshihiro Yashiba, Nahoko Fort-Nishigami
Co-produced by: Chase Film International Co., FGV Schmidle, HFF München
Supported by: ARRI Film & TV Services, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Manfred Durniok Foundation, Bayerisches Filmzentrum – First Movie Program, Japan Airlines (JAL), Toyota Germany, Asahi Beer Europe, Kodak Entertainment Imaging, German Films Service + Marketing and many more
Festivals: World Film Festival Montréal Canada 2008 (First Films World Competition), Hof International Film Festival 2008 (Winner of the German Film Promotional Award), Biberach Film Festival 2008, Passau International Film Festival 2008 (Opening Film), Braunschweig International Film Festival 2008, Asia Filmfest Munich 2008, Cairo International Film Festival Egypt 2008 (Festival of Festivals), Goa International Film Festival of India 2008 (International Competition), Chennai International Film Festival India 2008, Asian Hot Shots Festival Berlin 2009, Bavarian Film Awards (VGF-Award for Best Up-and-Coming Producer 2008), Göteborg International Film Festival 2009, Berlin International Film Festival 2009 (European Film Market), Augsburg Days of Independent Film 2009, Festival de Cannes 2009 (Marché du Film - German Screenings), Japanese Film Festival Hamburg 2009, Innsbruck International Film Festival 2009 (International Competition - Opening Film, Special Mention of the Jury), Shanghai International Film Festival 2009, Festival Of German Films Ludwigshafen 2009 (Audience Award), German Films Previews Cologne 2009, HFF München Film Show 2009 (Golden Heidi for Best Feature), Festival Of German Films Mexico 2009, Love is Folly Film Festival Varna Bulgaria 2009, Hachenburg Film Fest Of New German Films 2009, Aichi International Women's Film Festival Japan 2009, Horizons 2009 German Film Festival Tokyo Japan 2009, Tokyo International Women's Film Festival Japan 2009, KINO/09 Hongkong 2009, Wiliam-Dieterle-Film-Award Ludwigshafen 2009, Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2009 (International Perspective), Tamil Nadu Film Festival Chennai India 2009, Cork Film Festival Irland 2009, Lone Star Film Festival Fort Worth U.S.A. 2009, German Film Festival Singapur 2009, Augenblick German Film Festival Alsace France 2010, International Women's Film Festival in Seoul Korea 2010, Urban Visions Tokyo Factory Pasing Munich 2010, Shinsedai Film Festival Toronto Kanada 2010

Distribution:
ARRI Media (World Sales) - Movienet (Germany) - K-Films Amérique (Quebec)
Downloads (right click → save target as...):
Press Booklet (English/German/Japanese) - Intern. Poster - German Poster - Photo Kit - Closing Credits - Dialogue List & Subtitles
Additional Information:
Montreal World Film Festival - Wikipedia - crew united - Filmportal - IMDb - German Films
Press:
indieWIRE - Variety - Arts & Opinion - KINO-GermanFilm - Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow - Change by Gradation (Japanese) - Fanpage (Japanisch) - shomingeki (French)

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