There Was Such a Thing Before

In this quiet, enigmatic drama, Matsui Yoshihiko reflects on the toll of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in the lives of its townspeople. Time has passed since Akira lost his mother. Now, he sets off to find his father who works to decontaminate the region.
STORY
Summer, 2021, Fukushima. Seventeen-year-old Akira experienced the nuclear power plant accident ten years earlier. His mother died from radiation exposure, and his father, who had been a nuclear plant worker, is tormented by guilt and goes to work as a decontamination laborer, leaving the family scattered. Akira’s friend Shinichi worries about him as Akira, having lost his anchor, wanders aimlessly and stops coming to school. Shinichi himself, however, carries a loneliness he cannot share with others. One day, Akira meets the Koike couple, who run a surf shop, and Yuji, an employee there. Gradually, Akira begins to open the heart he had kept closed. Reassured by seeing a changed Akira, Shinichi also starts visiting the surf shop. Yet wounds that will not heal quietly begin to eat away at them.
Director: Yoshihiko Matsui ("Noisy Requiem")
Cast: Oshiro Maeda (前田旺志郎), Airu Kubozuka (窪塚愛流), Iura Arata (井浦新), Shuji Kashiwabara (柏原収史)
Drama | 2025 | B&W | 131 min.
Japanese title: こんな事があった
Japanese release date: September 13th, 2025
Film Festivals
- International Film Festival Rotterdam (2026)








