Two young people undertake a doomed summer road trip through Japan, which in turn reflects on the dissipating promise of 1960s counterculture and free love.

“Lost and nihilistic drifter Utamaro chances upon Giko, a female-presenting shoplifter who immediately catches his eye. One thing leads to another and the couple soon find themselves on the lam for murder. This provides for a delightful pretext to explore notions of societal malaise, free love and gender fluidity in a rapidly evolving 1970s Japan, as both Utamaro and Giko begin to know each other on the road by way of a variety of encounters, alternating between surrealistic, psychedelic and sexual.

The sole feature film directed by Isao Fujisawa, who learned his craft as an assistant director to Hiroshi Teshigahara on New Wave classics such asWoman in the DunesandThe Face of Another,Bye Bye Loveis a deeply personal reckoning with sexual identity. Bridging the distance betweenPierrot le fou,Bonnie and ClydeandFuneral Parade of Roseswith an impeccable sense of style, splashes of Godardian color as well as strong anti-imperialist and existentialist themes, this iconicjishu eiga(self-produced film) was long thought lost until recently shepherded towards restoration by director and programmer Akihiro Suzuki. A new landmark of Japanese queer cinema, it is now distributed in North America for the very first time in 50 years.” -KANI RELEASING

“Anticipates the transgressive New Queer Cinema movies of Gregg Araki and Gus Van Sant…” — Luke Goodsell, Metrograph 

“A veritable unicorn fossil unearthed from the Pleistocene bogland of 1974 and spit-shined for our retro-retro delectation… Bye Bye Love is pure snot-nosed anti-establishment indie heaven…” — Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice

“Presciently offers an accomplished representation of queer love and genderfluid identity nailing both ends of the trans experience: the reassuring euphoria when gender identity and presentation align and the thorny, insidious envy of cisgender people. — Ren Scateni, BFMAF

Doors Open 30 Minutes Before Showtime.