Teen's Silence Hides Family Trauma

Set in São Paulo during the 2014 World Cup, "Yellow Chrysanthemum" tells the story of Erika, a 16-year-old Japanese-Brazilian who feels estranged from her roots. This stems from the childhood vanishing of her beloved cousin, Yam, during a festival, an event shrouded in her family's guilty silence. Erika's growing friendship with Bianca, a classmate mourning her mother, forces Erika and her family to confront the lingering absence of Yam. Director André Hayato Saito, drawing from personal experiences with familial silence, views the film as a continuation of his exploration of grief, memory, and bicultural identity. The project, a co-production between Brazil, Japan, Germany, and France, is in pre-production and will film a key sequence during a traditional Toro Nagashi ceremony. The team aims to complete financing and connect with distributors at the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market. Saito is also developing another feature, "Little Faults."