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International Film Premiere: Mayday Rain (Japan, 2025, 74’)Inspired by survivors’ campaigns and stories, Mayday Rain reveals how a law meant to “modernize” Japan’s family system instead endangers those it claims to protect - exploring the global failures of custody, child protection, and violence prevention systems from Tokyo to Budapest.
Join us for a free public film screening and discussion with experts, advocates and friends in Budapest and Vienna on 1 December, part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (https://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/16-days-of-activism)
📅 1 December 2025 | 18:00–20:00
📍 CEU Budapest (Auditorium B, Nádor u. 15) & CEU Vienna (Quellenstraße 51 – B-511)
👶 Free childcare available (pre‑registration required)
🎤 Panel discussion with Harumi Okamura (Lawyers for Accurate Information on Joint Parental Authority), Julia Spronz (PATENT), and Krisztina Les (Hague Mothers), Branislava Arađan (WAVE-Women Against Violence Europe Network), moderated by journalist Stasya Sokolova
👉 Register here: https://forms.office.com/e/RheUJGfsR2
Organized by Friends of Megumi, in cooperation with the Chotto Matte Kyodoshinken Network, CEU, and PATENT.
🎬Mayday Rain (Director, Reo Tomita)
How far can law protect? How far can it harm?
It was May 2024, and the rain would not stop. Outside the National Diet, the Japanese parliament, survivors of domestic violence and child abuse stood together to oppose a rewriting of the Civil Code that would redefine parental rights. But the law passed - allowing divorced parents to share parental authority, a reform presented as “modernization” yet condemned by survivors, lawyers, and women’s groups for endangering those it claims to protect.
What comes after the rain?
The first professionally produced Japanese film made in close collaboration with survivors of domestic violence, Mayday Rain tells the stories of those most affected by the new law - their struggles, their activism, and their fears. It dramatizes a future under joint parental authority and uses survivors’ stories, campaigners’ reflections, and legal insights to reveal the impact of the reforms. The film exposes how power, law, and resistance collide in the politics of divorce and parenting - revealing the deep flaws within joint custody systems, child protection regimes, and gender-based violence prevention, impact on women around the world.
🎗 In memoriam of Megumi‑san
On January 29, 2025, our friend Megumi, a Japanese woman, long-time resident of Budapest, and mother of two, was killed. Before her murder she suffered years of domestic violence and abuse; her ex-husband is currently in custody, awaiting trial for her murder. Her death shocked both Hungary and Japan, highlighting systemic failures in domestic violence prevention and cross-border protection. This screening is dedicated to her memory - may it serve as a call for love, justice, and hope.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
CEU Budapest, Nádor utca 15, Budapest 1051, Magyarország, Budapest, Hungary
Tickets
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