Tanaka Miki / Japan / 2026 / 97min / Competition 

Chieri (Yui Okamoto) cannot relate to the characters in romance films and does not know how to respond when someone expresses romantic interest in her. In a world where romantic feelings and sexual attraction are taken for granted, Chieri, who is asexual, feels alienated. Then she meets Shoya (Hayato Kurihara), who seems to share her experience, and discovers the possibility of a relationship in which she does not have to explain herself. But unlike Chieri, Shoya, who is aromantic, experiences sexual desire. The comfort they initially find in their similarities gradually begins to falter as their differences emerge. Tanaka Miki’s feature debut, silver express, captures the moments when not sharing the same feelings as others becomes a barrier to human connection. Those who cannot conform to society’s conventional understanding of love face the challenge of having to explain themselves. This divide extends beyond affection into everyday preferences and choices. Yet just because Chieri cannot relate to the characters in a romance film does not mean she dislikes watching movies with others. People may watch the same scene and come away with different impressions, but those differences do not necessarily diminish their desire to be together. silver express quietly affirms the possibility of remaining beside someone without forcing an interpretation of feelings one cannot understand. The appearance of someone else who can hear the sound of a train that Chieri thought only she could hear reveals that her world is not hers alone. Building on this possibility, the film becomes both a lyrical anti-romance that questions conventional notions of love and a romance that sensitively embraces the diverse spectrum of love. Like a silver train crossing a snow-covered landscape, Yui Okamoto and Hayato Kurihara deliver understated yet deeply expressive performances, portraying two people who have been traveling in their own directions and briefly find themselves side by side.