Japan Foundation to Screen ‘The Whispering Star’

The Japan Foundation Los Angeles, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, will screen “The Whispering Star” (2015, 100 minutes) on Wednesday, May 23, at 7 p.m. as part of its Japanema series.

In this science-fiction drama by internationally popular director Sion Sono, who brings to life a script he wrote in 1990 in black-and-white imagery and whispered dialogue. Yoko, an android courier for an interstellar delivery service, travels to desolate planets for the sake of the endangered species known as human beings. One day, Yoko lands on a planet where fragile humans who could die through loud noise dwell.

The cast includes Megumi Kagurazaka, Kenji Endō, Yūto Ikeda and Kōko Mori.

“The Whispering Star,” which is reminiscent of the films of Kubrick or Tarkovsky, won the NETPAC Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival and was shown at the Environmental Film Festival at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

In Japanese with English subtitles. Japanese title: “Hiso Hiso Boshi.”

JFLA provides high-quality Japanese film screenings every second and fourth Wednesday. Free to attend; reservations not required. Street parking is available. For more information, call (323) 761-7510 or visit www.jflalc.org.