監督、女優、プロデューサーと多彩なゲストが続々! 6月9日 ラフォーレミュージアム原宿会場 上映プログラムレポート
2016年06月09日
We’re back again at our home away from home at the Laforet in Harajuku for the 2nd week of screenings in Tokyo. The building is full of the latest fashions & trends & we are located on the top 6th floor where there’s an event space that we use every year. A huge turnout for all 4 screenings today & the directors participated in some great post-screening Q&A’s for each.
ASIA INTERNATIONAL & JAPAN PROGRAM 2
Participating in this program were Takeshi Tanaka, director of “Five Percent Man.” The idea for this “mockumentary” about a film producer who turns down a very low-paying DYI film that winds up winning an award was taken from various drinking & talking sessions by the director & his group of filmmaker friends. Of course all were talking about their experiences & the director tweaked & re-wrote the script over a 2-year span.
Director Divij Roopchand from India was here to represent his coming-of-age story about a young Sikh boy who wants to cut his hair to be cool & hip-hop. The director told the audience that he had to use a Muslim boy since Sikh’s are not allowed to cut their hair. He auditioned about 200 boys before finding his star & he said that he knew that this was the one the minute he walked into the room. A beautifully shot story of the clash of the modern & old cultures.
Finally producer Takaki Nakadai came out for the short film “Umishyu (Sea Wine),” a strange but cool contemplation of the sea & all the memories that come from a person’s experiences at the beach. Japanese comedian & writer Naoki Matayoshi starred in the film. He had received much acclaim & publicity when he won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for Literature last year after he was already cast for the film. Good fortune for the filmmakers!
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM 1
We had 3 directors for this screening & the audience was treated with another excellent Q&A session.
Andres Molano Moncada from Colombia directed the bittersweet & charming short “Breakfast With Tiffany” about a customer who had fallen in love with the local prostitute. Andres, who teaches at a film school in Bogota, got the idea from his students & developed the script on his own.
Next up was director Pauline Findlay whose film “Blue Mist” was set in the Blue Mountains National Park in Australia. She told the audience that the story about a young deaf woman who may or may not have been purposely left behind in the park was deliberately left open ended & that she took great & painstaking care in the sound design as she wants to use the same theme for her feature.
Finally, Mitsuyo Miyazaki, a festival regular, brought her latest piece “Where We Begin.” The story about an old woman’s final remembrances of the love of her life was inspired by Mitsuyo’s own grandmother, is told through choreography & is poignant & emotional. The film, which was beautifully shot in Utah, took 3 days to shoot using some young dancers from nearby dance schools as extras. Visually storytelling at its best in a short film!
ASIA INTERNATIONAL & JAPAN PROGRAM 4
For this screening we had 1 Japanese & 1 Chinese director & 2 young, talented actresses from Japan to represent their respective shorts.
Japanese director A.T. who has been selected for our festival in the past, brought his outlook on today’s society in Japan with “Sociopaths.” Android-like figures go about everyday life in Japan helping out with little things like crossing the street & giving up his seat on a train but never receives a word of thanks in return. A sci-fi looking film with excellent CG work that A.T. took to great pains to get right with great depth & morals.
Kunru Song from China’s excellent & beautifully shot “Anaer” takes place in Tibet & highlights the clash of new & old cultures within a family dynamic. Kunru scouted all the stunning locations, wrote & shot it all himself with a minimal crew.
Finally actresses Niina Hasegawa & Juuna Aoki played high school close friends who use hypnotism to control the boys in school. They come at odds against each other over a boy at the end & a choice has to be made. A very original story idea & the very young actresses were given a lot of leeway by director Hiroki Inoue & their off-screen friendship helped make their on-screen roles that much easier.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM 3
For the final program of the day, Toby Fell-Holden came out from England to represent his film “Balcony.” Toby was quite taken with the mostly Japanese audience & the stoic & serious manner with which they watched his film. Toby told the audience that he wrote the script with the premise of a young girl with trauma & pressures from her neighborhood environment & home situation & then took it from there. The Q&A became quite a serious discussion on how the vicious circle of peer pressure, a dangerous situation at home & the feeling of a future that holds no hope can affect a young person’s mind & psyche.
Wow. What a brilliant 1st day at Laforet!
DJ John
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