a film by Ran Slavin
81 minutes. Mystery, Noir, thriller
Languages: Japanese, English, Hebrew Subtitles: English
“Call for Dreams” is a 2018 mystery crime drama film written and directed by Ran Slavin, centered on the concept of dream interpretation. The film follows Eko, a woman living in Tokyo who places an ad inviting strangers to call and describe their dreams. She then visits some of those people to help act out their dreams. Parallel to this, an investigator in Tel Aviv listens to recordings of dreams in connection with a murder investigation, creating an abstract overlap between dreams, memories, and reality. The film’s narrative is loose and dreamlike, intentionally fragmented and cyclical, designed to evoke the sensation of dreaming rather than follow a conventional plot. It features rich visual motifs, hypnotic cinematography, and a sensory-rich sound design that enhances its surreal atmosphere. “Call for Dreams” is considered an artistic exploration of the relationship between cinema and dreams, praised for its experimental style and immersive imagery rather than traditional storytelling. It is described as a hypnotic, noir-influenced film set in a rain-soaked Tokyo infused with mystery and poetic abstraction.
Film credits:
Director, writer, editor, colorist, art director : Ran Slavin
Producer: Ronen Ben Tal
Executive Producers: Ran Slavin, Tomer Almagor
Associate producer: Merav Ktorza
Produced by Plan B Productions and Nocturnal Rainbow Films
Cinematography: Maayan Blech, Yuri Gershberg, Neil Cohen, Ran Slavin
Cast: Mami Shimazaki, Yehezkel Lazarov, Yuval Robichek, Oleg Levin, Olga Kurkulina
Harue Masuda, Takanori Kawaharada, Akila Kawamura, Chiaki Horita, Tsuneyoshi Ichihara, Chen Wei Lee, Mariko Kakizaki, Roee Adar
Distribution: Indie Rights
Duration: 81 minutes
Languages: Japanese, English, Hebrew
Available subtitles: English, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Greek
More info:
ranslavin.com/callfordreams/
imdb page
Festivals:
Mitspe Ramon Film Festival, Israel 2022
Picknic Film Festival, Cantbaria, Spain 2022
OTB film awards Miami, winner best experimental 2022
Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival, Italy 2021
Deep Focus Film Festival, Brooklyn, NY 2021 (honorable mention)
Lift Off Film Festival 2021. London
2nd Dreamers Of Dreams Film Festival 2020 UK (winner best of the festival award)
3rd UAF Urban Audio-Visual Film Festival, Lisbon 2020.
Uk Film Review Film Festival, 2020, UK
10th Cinefantasy International Fantastic Film Festival São Paulo, Brazil
7th FICLAPAZ – La Paz International Film Festival, Bolivia (winner best narrative fiction)
16th ADAF Athens Digital Arts Festival, Greece
9th AVIFF Cannes Art Film Festival, France (winner-online award)
59th Ficci, The International Film Festival of Cartagena De Indias, Cartagena, Colombia
22nd Shanghai International Film Festival (market)
1st Through the Looking Glass International Film Festival Milano
12th Cinalfama Film Festival, Lisbon
7th Asian Film Festival Barcelona, Official Panorama Section,
23rd UK Jewish Film Festival, London
17th Mindanao Film Festival, Philippines
9th Nunes International Film Festival, Barcelona
7th Cine Kasimanwa, The western Visayas Film Festival, Philippines
34th Haifa International Film Festival, Israel
22nd POFF Black Nights Film Festival at Rebels With a Cause Competition, Tallinn – Estonia
26th Camerimage Film Festival at the Directors Debut & Cinematographers Debut Competitions, Poland
4th Utopia Film Festival, official selection (winner The Golem Award for Best Feature-Length Film) Israel
13th Ecu The European Independent Film Festival (winner best actress)
17th Cinema South International Film Festival, Israel
Academy nomination (Ophir Awards) best production design, Israel
