Moires Crowley, director of “Change in the Weather”, got an idea of the story when his extended family member did a coming out. Also Ireland held marriage equality referendum last year that received a lot of attentions from the world.
Crowley first started as an actor, and this was his first short to direct. When the audience asked him about the title, he said, “There are things in life that we cannot change, just like we have no power to change the weather. You just have to accept it”.
From left, director Elnura Osmonalieva of “SEIDE”, director Divij Roopchand of “Mast Qalandar”, director Takeshi Tanaka of “Five Percent Man”, and producer Takaki Nakadai and Makoto Komiya of “Umisyu”.
Writing a story about a girl in Kyrgyzstan being forced to marry, Elnura mentioned that it is based on the truth in Kyrgyzstan, and there are things that are unfortunately even worse. “Some girls are abducted to marry, and I wanted to tell people it’s very wrong”.
Roopchand, filming about a 13 years-old boy having difficulties with his mother, was questioned why the boy’s hair was long. He explained it is because of his religion, Sikh. In the religion, both women and men are not allowed to cut their hair, and he also said they used to be warriors in the history.
Tanaka’s short was about hard times and conflicts filmmakers have. This topic could be more familiar with Japanese filmmakers, since Japan have less support both from companies and government to create films. Tanaka said, he hopes the situation to be better, although he wants to keep on making films even with low budgets.
Two producers appeared on the stage this year said, they were one of the audience of the festival last year. And that was the moment when they decided to make and screen their own short next year. And they made it! Yes, dreams come true.
I love “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”! And this short is “Breakfast with Tiffany”. The title just got my full attention right away! Director Andres Molano Moncada’s short starts with a scene, man cooking a breakfast for his beloved girlfriend or wife. But the theme of the short is “impossible love”. How come? It’s heartbreaking, yet a bit heartwarming. Why so? Please come and watch and see how you feel!
“Blue Mist” by director Pauline Findlay is a short about a deaf girl hiking with her boyfriend, and gets lost in the mountain. It has a mysterious ending, and that is because she wanted to leave space for the audience to think about it. She is now planning to make a feature about people with hearing loss. She said she has been doing lots of research and sound testings as well. I’m really looking forward to see her feature in coming years!
“Where We Begin” directed by Mitsuyo Miyazaki, is just beautiful and I could not stop my tears. She said, it’s based on her own spiritual experience when she lost her grandmother 16 years ago. Saying good-bye to beloved ones is universal and unchangeable experience we all have to go through. She is expressing all her feelings and beauty of nature and human in this short.
We had many guests including director Yuji Mitsuhashi and scripwriter Yoko Yonaiyama from “Lies”. When Mitsuhashi read the script, he loved it and promised himself to “beat the script”, meaning he wanted to make it even better. Yonaiyama, who was standing right next to him said, “yes, he did”.
“Keep Going” by director Geom Kim, is a story about a girl who is connected to her android. Many filmmakers have done films about androids, but them connected with human, was a whole new story. He said, “I wanted to do a Sci-Fi short, but something that nobody have done before, with low budgets. That’s why I chose girl to be connected with an android.” His work does not seem like a low budge short, it is very neatly done!
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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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