Special Screening & Talk: SIREN
With Swiss Director Roger Walch and Lead Actor Akihiko Nishi
Swissnex in Japan is pleased to present a special screening of The Way of the Siren, a new hard-boiled detective film by Swiss director Roger Walch, who is based in Kansai. Set in the shadowy underworld of Osaka, the film follows a former mercenary-turned-detective drawn into a complex case that connects past trauma with present danger. Lead actor Akihiko Sai will also join the event, along with a Q&A and meet-and-greet session. This suspenseful drama blends noir aesthetics with Japanese storytelling and features a haunting soundtrack partly by the director himself, who is also an accomplished pianist. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience independent cinema up close and engage with its creators. Free admission with RSVP. Film in Japanese, no subtitles.
Program
- 5:30pm – Doors Open｜開場
- 6:00pm – Opening by the film Director Roger Walch｜Roger Walch監督による 開会の挨拶
- 6:30pm – Film Screening (Japanese) | 映画上映
- 8:00pm – Q&A
- 8:10pm – Meet & greet with the Director and actors | 監督・俳優との交流会
- 8:30pm – Closing | 閉会
Synopsis of the film
Still mourning the death of his girlfriend over a year ago, disillusioned detective Yoshida (Akihiko Sai) is approached by a young woman who is looking for her missing sister, Enka Singer Sakura Tanizaki (Sayuri Taki). But what initially seems to be an easy case quickly turns into a nightmare. The more Yoshida is digging, the deeper he is drawn into Osaka’s underworld. After having received several death threats, Yoshida decides to drop the case. But then he discovers that the same man (Choshun Kagei) who was responsible for the death of his girlfriend is also pulling the strings in his new case. But who is the man behind the fox mask, whom they call “Kitsune”? With the support of his mentor (Kan Mikami) and two good friends (Tatsuo Morizawa, Tsuyu) he is trying to solve the puzzle and to navigate the treachery waterways of Osaka.
About the Director
Roger Walch (*1965) is a Swiss born filmmaker and award winning director who has been living in Japan for 28 years. Roger obtained his MA degree in Japanese Studies and Social Anthropology from the University of Zurich in 1996. He studied documentary filmmaking with Swiss director H.U. Schlumpf in Zurich and filmmaking with Japanese director Katsu Kanai at the Image Forum Institute in Tokyo. Before coming to Japan, Roger worked as a movie theatre manager for an art-house cinema in Switzerland. Roger’s short-film “Yuwaku 2” was nominated for Best Picture at the CO2 Short-Film Festival in Osaka 2005. The documentary “Even a large River starts with a Drop of Water” won the Friendship Prize at the International Documentary Film Festival of the Aichi Expo 2005 in Japan. Roger directed the narrative “Tengu” (Japan, 63 min, starring Ted Taylor, Mimori Sento and Mikami Kan) in 2009. In 2010 “Children of Water” (Japan, 52 min) followed. Roger produced and directed the documentary “KAN” (Japan, 95 min) about Japanese singer/actor Mikami Kan and Terayama Shuji in 2013. It was shown at the Tama New Wave Film Festival in Tokyo and had a theatrical release. Roger wrote and shot an hour long underground musical “The German” in the homeless district of Osaka (starring Mikami Kan and Opera Singer Yuka Yokoi). It was released in 2018. Roger was DOP for renowned Swiss director Richard Dindo’s movie about Haiku Poet Matsuo Basho “Le Voyage de Basho” (90 min, 2019). He also worked as DOP for Swiss directors Erich Schmid (for the film “Adolf Muschg - The Other”, CH, 2021) and Thomas Luechinger (“Sound and Silence”, CH, 2022). Roger wrote, directed and produced the Road Movie “Anaïs” (Japan 2022, 96 min) with a French and Japanese cast. His hard-boiled Detective Movie “The Way of the Siren” (93 min) was shot in Osaka and will be released in June 2025.