No. 6 (2019) Shoplifters. Jan 25th.

Film No. 6 (2019) Jan. 25th.  8.00 PM  PIAF Film Festival, The Pines Joondalup.

"What the people who pretend to be her family were doing in this house remains shrouded in mystery". (A network news reporter voices her commentary from the street in front of "the family house").

Life on the fringes of Japanese society is a rarity for the greater international cinema going public to experience. Shoplifters takes us on a heartfelt journey using one of the most unconventional families you'll ever experience on-screen. Osamu (Lily Franky) and Sakura (Nobuyo Shibata) oversee rather than parent a family in a cluttered but strangely homely apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo. The family are scammers, it's the only way they know. The major scam comes via the kidnapping (rescue) of cold and lonely Rin (Miya Sasaki) from a balcony where she is left by her uncaring parents. It's at this point we pick-up this intriguing and unique journey where unethical behaviour is the norm. Ultimately it's the love and care for each other that unfolds on screen that affects us, the audience, giving us no idea where it will take us. Cannes awarded Shoplifters it's highest accolade in 2018. No wonder. 11GUMS.