Photo/Illutration A scene from “Mitsuki, Sekai” (Provided by distributor Foggy)

“Mitsuki, Sekai” is about two junior high school girls having a hard time in life. It is in two parts.

The first part, “Mitsuki,” portrays the daily life of the titular character who loves dancing to music.

The second part, “Sekai” (world), follows Aki, who has a stutter that causes her to fall silent at times. She has trouble with her family and is teased by her classmates, and yet she takes a firm stand.

“I made this film because I wanted to embrace children who suffer from anxiety and despair,” said the director, Marina Tsukada.

While raising her own child, Tsukada produced an ensemble movie based on her own experiences with 10 or so children she met in her hometown in Nagano Prefecture.

Mitsuki and Aki, who played the protagonists under their real names in “Mitsuki, Sekai,” are among them.

Mitsuki also likes to dance as a hobby in real life.

“When I watched her dance in a video clip, she appeared as if she was saved by dancing and I thought she was beautiful,” the director said.

Meanwhile, Aki occasionally burst into tears when she couldn’t deliver her lines while shooting scenes.

“At first, I didn’t know that was because she had a stutter,” Tsukada said. “When Aki told me about it, I thought I wanted to keep her feelings on film.”

It means that the protagonist in each part is modeled after the actor who plays the character.

“I chose drama over documentary to protect their lives by not showing their families and homes,” the director added.

In the last scene of the movie, Aki accidentally and unwittingly gives peaece of mind to a woman, a complete stranger.

“That woman is modeled after me,” the director continued. “I wanted to share how I was saved by the children who appear in my movie and tell the audience that there might be others besides me who are saved by children trying hard to live their lives.”

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