SUN APR 26, 2026 7:00 PM WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS $12.00 (member) ; $17.00 (general admission) Egyptian Theatre | 35mm print courtesy of The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles Series co-presented by The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles and The Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities ‘Mikio Naruse: An American Cinematheque Retrospective’ This event has passed
ABOUT THE FILM: In Japanese with English subtitles. WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS might be Japanese filmmaker Mikio Naruse’s finest hour—a delicate, devastating study of a woman, Keiko (played heartbreakingly by Hideko Takamine), who works as a bar hostess in Tokyo’s very modern postwar Ginza district, who entertains businessmen after work. Sly, resourceful, but trapped, Keiko comes to embody the conflicts and struggles of a woman trying to establish her independence in a male-dominated society. FORMAT: 35mm DISTRIBUTOR: Janus Films COUNTRY: Japan