The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026
Knowing Me, Knowing You: The True Self in Japanese Cinema

Ura Aka: L'Aventure
裏アカ (Ura Aka)

Fashion boutique manager ITO Machiko (TAKIUCHI Kumi) feels trapped in the monotony of her life. Her ideas are routinely dismissed, while her younger, charismatic colleague SHINDO Sayaka (SUMIRE) takes over her job — leaving Machiko increasingly frustrated. After an offhand remark from Sayaka, she creates a secret social media account — an ura aka — under the alias “March,” posting revealing photos. The attention and admiration that follow offer a thrill and validation absent from her everyday existence.

One day, she receives a direct message from a follower named “Yuto” (KAMIO Fuju), who asks to meet. They share a one-night stand, bonding over shared dissatisfaction. But when the boundary between her persona on the secret account and her real self begins to dangerously dissolve, Machiko is drawn into a pit from which there seems to be no escape.

Director KATO Takuya’s striking feature debut, Ura Aka: L’Aventure, is a relatively unknown gem. Stylish and ambitious, it explores the desires and frustrations that women face in contemporary life, seen through the lens of secret online identities.