They were best friends and then pen pals until, one day, the letters stopped coming. Almost 30 years later, Jessica Stuart returns to Japan to try and solve the mystery of her long-lost friend, Fukue.

Creative team

Directors: Daniel Roher, Edmund Stenson
Producer: Felicity Justrabo

Filmmaker’s statement

Having lived in Japan, I know how important privacy is and, consequently, how difficult it can be to find those who have gone missing or that you’ve lost contact with.

Following Jess on her adventure was nerve-wracking, both because we desperately wanted to see her succeed, and also because we wanted to create a satisfying drama that would engage our audience.

As we get older, friendships drift, memories coalesce … we hope that in watching this modest film the audience, too, can reconnect to the dreams of a childhood long forgotten. Because we are never too old. – Edmund Stenson

About Daniel Roher

At Loud Roar Productions, Daniel Roher strives to create socially significant content that entertains audiences around the world.

He has made two documentaries with CBC Short Docs: Dilveen (2018) and Sourtoe: The Story of the Sorry Cannibal (2016). In 2017, his feature Ghosts of Our Forest, which chronicles the struggle of a displaced Indigenous tribe in Uganda, premiered at the 2017 Hot Docs Film Festival.

The film follows premieres of his previous documentaries including Survivors Rowe (Hot Docs 2015), a film that was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award, screened on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and had its broadcast debut on TVO.

About Edmund Stenson

Edmund Stenson’s work as director, producer and editor spans both documentary and fiction, and focuses on human rights and social issues.

In 2018, he directed Finding Fukue, a short documentary for CBC, and Other Desires, an experimental short which premiered at the Bristol Independent Film Festival in 2018. His 2015 edited documentary, The Roots Remain, won awards at RIDM, Victoria International Film Festival, and Wales Documentary Festival.

He has edited Canadian documentary television – in 2016 Le messager, and the 2017 miniseries, Ma vie Made in Canada – and numerous short fiction films such as A Yakuza’s Melody (LA Film Awards), She Fell Away (London Short Film Festival) and The Guest (Summer Shorts).

He has also cut documentary features such as Ghosts of Our Forest (Hot Docs 2017) and numerous short docs including the award-winning Sourtoe: The Story of the Sorry Cannibal, BravoFACTUAL short Sexual Being and Hot Docs 2017 film The Long Way Home.