The first time Shinya Tamada read Masataka Matsuda’s play "On Summer Sand," he knew it was something special.
"The way it portrayed people felt so real," Tamada says. "It felt like the dialogue captured those moments where people are unable to express or share the feelings that are inside of them — the feelings they don't even have words for themselves."
The 39-year-old director, known for films such as "Lust in a Karaoke Box" (2019) and "I Am What I Am" (2022), has now adapted and directed a film version of "On Summer Sand," which is being released in theaters nationwide on Friday after winning the jury prize at the Shanghai International Film Festival last month.
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