Offbeat Japanese Film ‘Desert of Namibia’ Trailer Starring Yumi Kawai

by Alex Billington
March 26, 2025
Source: YouTube

“Am I pretty?” Kani Releasing has debuted an official US trailer for a Japanese indie film titled Desert of Namibia, the second feature made by young Japanese filmmaker Yoko Yamanaka. This first premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar section, and it will be playing in US art house theaters starting this May – one year later. The film stars Yumi Kawai as 21-year-old Satsuki – she swaps boyfriends frequently, unconcerned with career or societal norms. Her unpredictable behavior leads to a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder, as she navigates a rigid, patriarchal society. Described in one review as: “Elusive, Desert of Namibia is an ultra-melancholic slapstick comedy, a slow-burn vaudeville, a fantasy film without monsters or ghosts–or else entirely populated by monsters and ghosts, but with a seemingly everyday quality…” And it also “masterfully conveys the chaos and disarray of a young woman at odds with the world as much as with herself.” In addition to Kawai, the film stars Keisuke Horibe, Daichi Kaneko, Kanichiro, Yuzumi Shintani, Makiko Watanabe, and Erika Karata. This is definitely worth a look.

Here’s the official US trailer (+ posters) for Yoko Yamanaka’s film Desert of Namibia, from YouTube:

Desert of Namibia follows the mercurial 21-year-old Kana (Yumi Kawai), a hair-removal technician at a salon in Tokyo, who bristles against the beauty expectations placed on women her age. Her erratic mood and default to self-destruct impacts all of her relationships, as moments of levity erupt into violence and optimism simmers to despair. The award-winning Kawai embodies Kana with an emotional intensity and clear-eyed precision that evokes Gena Rowlands in Cassavettes’ A Woman Under the Influence. Desert of Namibia, also known as ナミビアの砂漠 or Namibia no Sabaku in Japanese, is both written and directed by Japanese indie filmmaker Yôko Yamanaka, making her second feature film after directing Amiko, and some TV series most recently. This initially premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival last year playing in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar. Kani Releasing debuts Yoko Yamanaka’s Desert of Namibia film in select US theaters (first at Metrograph in NYC) starting on May 16th, 2025 coming soon. Who wants to watch?

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