Yuri Kinugawa

Sayo and Keiji have eloped to New Zealand to marry, away from the interference of Keiji's disapproving mother in Japan. On their honeymoon, they have the freedom to express their love away from her repressive influence. However, on what should be the happiest of days, Keiji is drowned and Sayo must, by custom, return to live with her cruel and selfish mother-in-law.

In Kae, Act Like A Girl, Idemitsu continues her experimental narrative exploration of women's roles in contemporary Japan with a tale of women's liberationist awakening. Here she presents a young female artist's conflict with the traditional, patriarchal expectations of women in Japanese culture, in which men are privileged and women are groomed to be wives and mothers. Within Idemitsu's narrative, video screens and images represent the protagonist's inner struggle — memories, conscience, familial pressure — as she subordinates and then ultimately achieves her personal and artistic desires.