To call Kaori Momoi accomplished would be an understatement. Both an icon of Japanese cinema and, at times, one of its most influential critics, she has appeared in some 60 films spanning a 35-year career which has seen her win the Japanese Academy Award for Best Actress twice, and Best Supporting Actress once.

“火 Hee,” in which she also stars, is Momoi’s second feature as a writer-director — her first, “Faces of a Fig Tree” won the NETPAC prize at Berlinale in 2007. The highly anticipated work is set to open the 14th Vladivostok International Film Festival.

Momoi’s new film is an adaptation of a short story of the same name by acclaimed writer Fuminori Nakamura. “火 Hee” (the Japanese character of the title can mean both “fire” and “anger”) tells the story of Azusa (Momoi), a troubled sex worker and former patient of psychiatrist Dr. Sanada (Yûgo Sasô), whom she has not seen for many years. When they meet again in unhappy circumstances, Sanada is keen to question Azusa about her past, but it’s she that retains control of both the conversation and the narrative. As her tale unfolds, Sanada is forced to see himself mirrored in the men Azusa has known, and is drawn deeper into her world.

“火 Hee” premiered at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival to very favorable reviews, with critics singling out both Momoi’s performance, and her precise and unobtrusive style of direction. The film was also selected to screen at the recent Guanajuato International Film Festival in Mexico, where it played as part of the “Spotlight Country” strand showcasing the best of new Japanese filmmaking. Momoi returns to Vladivostok in September having previously been awarded Best Director and Best Actress awards there for “Faces of a Fig Tree” in 2007.

The 14th Vladivostok Pacific Meridian International Film Festival runs September 10–16.