Noriko, a Japanese-Canadian woman who has been living in Montreal for more than 20 years, is about to return to Nagasaki, her hometown. She has to go back to help her brothers and sisters clear out their childhood home, which will soon be sold.

Within the walls of this old house lie the fragments of the family’s history. What remains of memories when families’ secrets are locked away and end up casting a shadow over the collective recollections? Noriko decides to reconstruct the past of her mother Mitsuko, a survivor of the atomic bomb, in the hope of passing down her cultural heritage to her children and healing the dark reminiscences of the tragic past.

But her quest promises to be arduous. Mitsuko, who passed away 30 years ago, has never shared her story. Through her findings, Noriko meets various allies who will help her uncover her mother's past and unveil unknown details about this era of her native Japan.

Dir. Laurence Lévesque, in collaboration with Noriko Oi | 96min | 2024 | Canada

"a heartbreaking dispatch from survivors of the Nagasaki bomb....Laurence Lévesque’s powerful documentary follows a woman who discovers a support network among her mother’s generation of survivors of the nuclear blast" - Guardian

"Through Laurence Lévesque’s thoughtful storytelling marked by stunning visuals, Okurimono navigates the delicate realms of unspeakable pain and intergenerational trauma with grace, painting a poignant picture of closure" - hotDOCS

"Little by little, Okurimono takes on the features of a collective memorial and, more broadly, those of a meditation full of grace and tinged with melancholy on the passing of time and the legacy we leave behind" - Visions du Reel

"poetic and graceful...a reflection on what we leave behind for future generations" - Film Fest Report

"speaks for the importance of sharing memories, whether they are personal or collective – an experience which should be considered a precious gift" - Business Doc Europe

"Noriko allows the viewers to join her on a journey for solace amid reflections on a tragic history, which evolves into a tender poem that honours her mother with heartfelt intensity" - Eye for Film