# ‘Between Us’ Director Matsumura Shingo on Finding Connection After Disaster and Making Films on Japanese Budgets

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/between-us-director-matsumura-shingo-on-finding-connection-after-disaster-and-making-films-on-japanese-budgets/
- Published: 2026-11-01T23:17:30+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-02T00:51:21+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/between-us-director-connection-after-disaster-japanese-budgets-1236936999/
- Topics: Art, Asia, Culture, Entertainment, Film, World

## Key points

- Two estranged friends reconnect through their school drama club.
- Matsumura uses still camerawork to convey emotion and distance.
- The film reflects on connection and trauma that remains unresolved.

## Summary

‘Between Us’, directed by Matsumura Shingo, follows childhood friends Makoto and Kasumi as they reconnect in their high school drama club after an incident drives them apart. The film explores how people can remain emotionally connected despite distance, and how unresolved personal and public trauma can persist after attention moves on.

Matsumura uses still, deliberate camerawork to capture the actors’ emotions and distinguish the film from fast-moving online video. He drew on reflections prompted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the pandemic and wars, though these events do not feature directly in the story. In the drama club, the girls’ separate readings of a play bring them closer as they voice feelings they could not express in everyday life.

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