“Japan’s ranking in the Global Gender Gap index is 116th out of 146 countries. We remain a male-dominated society. Many households still uphold the old traditions where the men go out to work and the women stay home.” Director Ogigami Naoko once cited that she made Ripples to challenge the male-dominated society. The protagonist, Yoriko, a woman in her fifties, is immersed in a cult that worships the green water of life. Unable to find a place for herself after her husband abandoned the family, Yoriko turns to a strange religion and begins each day by making waves in her sandy front yard. One day, her husband returns home to tell her he has cancer and asks her to let him stay, and her young son brings home an older, deaf girlfriend. A big ripple runs through Yoriko’s heart. “I find it stifling to be a woman in this country. But I’ve made this movie in the hopes that I can do something to change that. And I’ve given it plenty of dark humor,” says the director. (NAM Dong-chul)