Shinji Somai, who died in 2001 after making only 13 films, ranks high in the local directorial pantheon, with his 1993 coming-of-age drama ¡°Moving¡± hailed as a masterpiece by Japanese critics.

But Somai was long in the shadow of other Japanese directors who rose to international prominence in the 1990s. ¡°Moving¡± was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, but got relatively little attention outside Japan for decades.

Now the tide is turning with a new 4K restoration that screened at Cannes and Venice in 2024 hitting theaters in Japan.