Mostly seen on the gay pink circuit and recently restored by its director to its rightful place in the Japanese arthouse canon, Akihiro Suzuki's debut takes the death of a young gay porn performer named Takachi as its starting point. Looking for an Angel follows Shinpei and Reiko as they process their friend’s disappearance, their memories coalescing into a bold exploration of grief set against the backdrop of a nostalgic, blue-hued city shot in a variety of filmic formats. As the viewer begins to piece together Takachi’s story, laden with desire for another boy named Sorao, between the cities of Tokyo and Kochi (“where the boys look like angels”), a powerful free-associative beauty emerges from a unique work described by Suzuki himself as “neither straight, gay, queer, bisexual, asexual or pornographic, but [rather] anti-heterosexist” — a film completely free of dogma and convention.

“At the time, I felt a sense of rebellion against the heterosexual-dominated world, and wanted to portray sexuality and identity through an ambiguity that cannot be categorized,” says director Akihiro Suzuki. "I wanted to make a 35mm film like an 8mm film, mix various visual media, and include people of diverse sexualities around me in it.” — Akihiro Suzuki