JFF26 Sham

Seiichi YABUSHITA (Go AYANO) is a devoted elementary school teacher in Fukuoka, admired for going above and beyond for his students. During a parent-teacher meeting with Ritsuko HIMURO (Ko SHIBASAKI), he raises concerns about her son’s behaviour in class. Days later, Ritsuko files a complaint accusing Yabushita of physical abuse against her child. When a journalist publishes the story using Yabushita’s full name, public outrage spreads like wildfire. Branded the "homicidal teacher”, he becomes one of the most reviled men in Japan almost overnight. As Yabushita’s career, reputation and family life are shattered, a legal team of over 550 people mobilises in support of Ritsuko. However, there is more to the story than meets the eye. Based on journalist Masumi FUKUDA’s investigation into the real Fukuoka case, Sham marks director Takashi MIIKE’s first adaptation of a true story, and is a striking departure from the transgressive genre works that made him internationally famous. Anchored by a deeply affecting performance from Go AYANO, this taut and unsparing courtroom drama employs a Rashōmon-style structure to question whether the truth can ever prevail once public opinion has already delivered its verdict.