Four years after Ayako Imamura, who was born deaf, filmed herself wrestling with communication barriers in Start Line, she returns to ask: Can two different people really understand each other? With an open heart, she turns her camera on her friendship with Ma-chan, a woman with Asperger’s Syndrome she met at a film festival. While Ma-chan has difficulty interacting with people, Ayako struggles with maintaining an appearance of understanding: What is common sense to one woman makes no sense to the other. What is ordinary to one is off-putting to the other. Can their relationship survive these fundamental differences? Breaking down what a “normal friendship” means, this fascinating and charming doc will leave you re-examining your own relationships with others.

Presented in partnership with The Japan Foundation, Toronto.

Japan Through the Lens: From cocktails to design to queer activism, explore the many layers of the unique country of Japan through five fresh finds rarely screened in North America.

Streaming until November 25 exclusively to Hot Docs Members. Join now to watch for free. bit.ly/2Y6yN75