On The Road

On The Road. A daughter and a mother with dementia in Japan

Akiko Sakai, who runs a gallery in her apartment, has been living for six years with her mother, Asayo, who suffers from dementia. Her neighbors know that Asayo wanders day and night, and when she takes a break from wandering, the mother and daughter often go out together to a nearby bar. This film follows these two women and examines what aging is and what it means to be human.

This film humorously depicts the ordinary lives of a mother with mental illness and her daughter living in Kitahama, Osaka. Directed by Tanaka Yukio, the Japanese filmmaker also known by his previous films Mapping the Future, Nishinari and ITECHO.