Directing

Sae Suzuki

Born January 1, 1993 · Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan (age 33)

Sae Suzuki is a Japanese filmmaker. She began making films when she enrolled in the Department of Body Expression at Rikkyo University. She graduated from the Department of Film Production at the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts.

Known For

My Identity

My Identity · 2019

Bullied at school and beaten by her mother, Taiwanese-Japanese teenager Rei runs away from home and is spontaneously taken in by Aoi, an office worker stigmatized by petty gossip. After a traumatic event binds them even closer together, the pair flee Tokyo and hide away in an abandoned inn. Together, they create a utopian space of female camaraderie and solace, but before long are forced to face reality.

Strangers

Strangers · 2022

Yukie (Manami Usamaru) (28) a dental nurse in a rural town, doesn't verbalize her true feelings often but she dreams of living by the sea. This is vague desire becomes something more concrete when the relentless power harassment of her boss turns into sexual harassment and she makes the impulsive decision to flee to Tokyo with the clinic's cash. For one day, she can be free to do as she pleases and meets up with a guy on a dating app, Minato (Akihiro Yamamoto) (25), who is hiding his own inner pain. Together, they find they offer each other hope for a new life even as their old ones tether them to reality.

Filmography

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My Identity

My Identity · 2019

Bullied at school and beaten by her mother, Taiwanese-Japanese teenager Rei runs away from home and is spontaneously taken in by Aoi, an office worker stigmatized by petty gossip. After a traumatic event binds them even closer together, the pair flee Tokyo and hide away in an abandoned inn. Together, they create a utopian space of female camaraderie and solace, but before long are forced to face reality.

Director

Strangers

Strangers · 2022

Yukie (Manami Usamaru) (28) a dental nurse in a rural town, doesn't verbalize her true feelings often but she dreams of living by the sea. This is vague desire becomes something more concrete when the relentless power harassment of her boss turns into sexual harassment and she makes the impulsive decision to flee to Tokyo with the clinic's cash. For one day, she can be free to do as she pleases and meets up with a guy on a dating app, Minato (Akihiro Yamamoto) (25), who is hiding his own inner pain. Together, they find they offer each other hope for a new life even as their old ones tether them to reality.

Director