Director Naomi Kawase made a sensational debut when her film Suzaku won the Cannes Camera d'or in 1997. With Shara, she returns to Nara, the site of that film (and her hometown), to present a “love letter to the community,” a work in which “joyful Japanese values shine brightly” (Variety). On the day of the Jizo Festival, a little boy disappears, leaving a family in shock. Five years later, his body is finally discovered, and the world slowly, hesitatingly moves forward, with new loves beginning, another festival arriving, and a new life starting. Like Aoyama's Eureka and Kore-eda's Distance, Shara examines personal loss and how individuals can overcome unfathomable grief, but unlike those films focuses on how friendships, neighbors, and family serve as a source of comfort and, finally, healing. To further the film's extraordinary feeling of realism and community, Kawase relocated her cast and crew to Nara months before the shoot, “to come to know the town...so as to better feel their role.”