SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2015

The 2nd program of the day saw 2 directors, 1 actor & 1 producer come up for an interesting & informative Q&A!

Producer Tatsuo Itoh & actor Rao Onozuka talked about their short “Keshinomi,” a stunningly beautiful short with 2 stories within 1 but both with life & death as the theme. 1 side was filmed in a beautiful snowscape which they were very fortunate to film in because there was  very little snow up until the night before the shoot. So producer Itoh said that they were blessed by the god of cinema for the gift of a heavy snowfall thought the night. He also revealed that he was able to raise ¥5,000,000 (roughly $40,000) as the budget for the film, a huge some in the world of short filmmaking!

Next up was director Zul Salleh & producer/screenwriter Chee Tian Lee for their coming-of-age short “Anchovy.” This story about “Lat” a boy from a poor fishing village has 2 parts, the rememberances of his childhood shot in black & white & as an adult in the city which was shot in color. There’s an obvious homage to cinema & Chee told us that most of the inspiration came from old classic movies made in Malaysia.

Finally the director of “Melodyless Sonata” (Japan), Yusaku Okamoto told the audience when asked that he used classical sonata music as a vehicle for his story about a bitter conductor, that for him, a sonata represents life itself with its melodic themes & crescendos & grand finales. A beautiful story made with grace & sensitivity.

DJ John