Masumura x Wakao
Cinema Rediscovered 2025
Fri 25 - Sun 27 July
Restored to mark his centenary last year, the films of Yasuzô Masumura (1924 - 86) are one of the exciting rediscoveries of world cinema. His filmmaking through the 1950s and 60s reveals an adventurous, eclectic style which challenged post-war Japanese complacency. Masumura was the first Japanese student to study film at the Centro Sperimentale Di Cinematografia in Rome in the early 1950s, where he would be exposed to the films of such Italian luminaries as Fellini and Antonioni.
"The work of Masumura has been a revelation to me. The films we are screening are a snapshot of a rich, provocative and varied filmmaker who made distinctive cinematic critiques of contemporary Japanese life. His creative partnership with Ayako Wakao centres a complex portrayal of the role of women in Japan with disruptive and transgressive female passions and desires at the heart of each film." Mark Cosgrove, Cinema Rediscovered Founder
The films all feature Ayako Wakao, one of the great Japanese actresses with whom Masumura made twenty films. Wakao brings an intensity to the female leads in each of these four films which explores and explodes traditional female representations with a radical approach to genre and visual style. The festival closes with the UK premiere of Yasuzō Masumura’s impassioned drama The Wife of Seisaku (Seisaku no Tsuma, 1965), which acts as a fierce critique of Japanese society; presented in a striking new restoration to close this year’s festival.
All the films have been restored in 4K by Kadokawa Corporation.
Upcoming screenings in this season
Irezumi (The Spider Tattoo)
classified 15 S Masumura x Wakao
Yasuzō Masumura adapts Junichiro Tanizaki’s story as a visually arresting story of sexually charged vengeance.
Manji (All Mixed Up)
classified 18 (CTBA) S Masumura x Wakao
Director Yasuzō Masumura broke new ground in Japanese cinema with this progressive exploration of lesbian sexuality.
Tsuma wa kokuhaku suru (The Wife Confesses)
classified 18 (CTBA) S Masumura x Wakao
A young woman finds herself on trial for her husband’s death in this perceptive Japanese drama, presented in a new 4K restoration.
UK Premiere: Seisaku no Tsuma (The Wife of Seisaku)
classified 18 (CTBA) S Masumura x Wakao
The festival closes with the UK premiere of Yasuzō Masumura’s impassioned drama, which acts as a fierce critique of Japanese society.
Individual events and screenings unless otherwise specified:
£11.50 full (plus 12% booking fee*)
£9.00 concessions / Refugees and Asylum Seekers (plus 12% booking fee*)
£6.00 24 or under (plus 12% booking fee*)
Concessions apply to Full Time Students, Job Seekers Allowance and Employment Support Allowance, 66+ who have retired, Equity and BECTU members and disabled people. Where applicable please produce proof of eligibility when collecting a ticket.
*Booking fee applies to online and phone booking only.
Complimentary tickets are available for Personal Assistants accompanying customers who are Deaf / Disabled and can be booked through the Box Office, or online after joining our Access Register.
Cinema Rediscovered Festival Pass
The Cinema Rediscovered Pass allows you to select from 80+ Cinema Rediscovered screenings and events between Wed 23 - Sun 27 July. Subject to availability, terms and conditions apply. Buy your Pass here. Pass holders get a free three-month trial from curated online film streaming platform MUBI.
Pass prices: £120 full / £100 concessions / £80 24 and under.
Multi-Ticket Package Offer
Get 20% off the regular ticket price when you book 4-10 Cinema Rediscovered screenings and/or events. The discount will automatically apply when you add the tickets to your basket.
Club Shed members get 20% off all individual Cinema Rediscovered tickets.
All Cinema Rediscovered Pass and ticket holders can get 20% off any 6 O'Clock Gin & Tonic (including Watershed’s very own) at the Café & Bar and Undershed Bar during the Festival. Pass and ticket holders can also enjoy Spritz time - get any drink from our Spritz menu for the reduced price of £8 between 17:00 - 20:00 at the Café & Bar and Undershed Bar during the Festival.
Please note: the Cinema Walks, Projection Tours, 16mm Projection Taster Sessions and the Film Quiz are excluded from the Pass and Package.