Shoaib Mansoor Interview

The Fukuoka Film Festival Audience Award Winner – BOL [speak up] Audience Award for the 23^rd Focus on Asia Film Festival was announced last night and the recipient was BOL [speak Up]. Shoaib Mansoor’s 159 minute epic is based on the last testament of a woman awaiting the death penalty. It tackles some weighty social issues and the director was on hand for (an all-to-brief) post-award ceremony press conference to talk a little about the how’s and why’s.

Fukuoka Film Festival Audience Award Winner – BOL [speak up]

How do you feel after winning the Audience Award?

Well I’m very excited. You can well imagine the excitement of somebody who has only made two films in his life. And both films came here to Fukuoka and won awards. It’s a very rare achievement so I’m very happy. I’m very thankful to the people of Fukuoka who like my work. Hopefully I’ll be coming here again.

What was the message that you wanted to express through this film?

As I said I wasn’t very excited about this film because I don’t make films to win awards or to win critical praise. My main purpose is to improve my society through my films. I want to educate my people. There are so many things that they are doing wrong and as a result they are suffering. So my main purpose in making films is to educate people. That is why sometimes in my films there are a lot of explanations, answers to questions and to problems. I don’t just raise questions. I think it is the duty of the filmmaker who is making such films to offer answers to people. Just raising questions is not enough. It could be enough in countries where people are very aware and educated. But in countries like mine where people are not very educated it’s essential to educate them. Not raise questions but to show them a way. They may not agree right now but in times to come, maybe the next generation may find these answers appropriate.

How was your experience of working in television? Did you take on similar projects to your films?

When I was working in television I was mainly aiming at entertainment. I did music, I did shows, I did comedy, plays and drama also. My main goal was to entertain people. It was after leaving television that I realized that life was going away and that the lives of my people weren’t changing really. I had to play a role really. Unfortunately the Pakistani film industry had gone down a lot. So another purpose of my going into films was to revive the film industry in Pakistan. The second most important thing to consider is that I feel television is a very consumable commodity. It just vanishes very quickly. Film has a larger impact and a longer life. So I selected films to extend my message to people.

You ask that your face not be shown in any media if possible. Could you explain your decision for this?

Actually the reason is not for any fear of being recognized. I have a much bigger message for the youth of my country. I want them to realize the importance of work over fame. I want to tell them that despite avoiding fame and being behind the scenes you can contribute through your work and to the betterment of society. So the message to younger people is to concentrate on your work rather than showing their faces and getting famous.

What part of your film would you like audiences to pay attention to most?

All of it.  Actually as I said this film is not for an international audience. I made it for Pakistanis. It is my people who are doing those wrongs [expressed in the film] that I want them to correct. So it’s good also that outside Pakistan, in Japan and in the countries that BOL was released people have appreciated it, understood it and tried to feel the pain that Pakistani women are going through. Mainly the film concentrates on the conflict that is taking place between two classes. One class in Pakistan has already undergone change and the other class is resisting that change and is trying to keep their society backward. This conflict is really the subject of the film. The father, who is the main figure in the film, represents the fundamentalist class, the class that is regressive, that wants to keep the society backward. While the elder daughter is representing the class who wants to go ahead, to progress, to get education, to be able to work and not to be restricted to their homes. This is the subject of the film.

 Interview by Kenjo McCurtain

Interview with Paul D. Miller AKA DJ Spooky

Paul D. Miller AKA DJ Spooky's film Rebirth of a Nation reinterprets D.W.Griffith's controversial, racist, revisionist, landmark 1915 film Birth of a Nation. The movie puts DJ culture in the director's chair seeking to show how history has a habit of recycling itself. In remixing Birth of a Nation it makes its own context. DJ Spooky created the score for the film , which is performed by the fabulous Kronos Quartet. Rebirth of a Nation has been screened at London's Tate Modern, New York's MoMa, and the Acropolis amongst others. It arrives in Hong Kong for its Asian premiere. There will be two performances on October 15th at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Additionally, DJ Spooky will be doing a Master Class and DJ demonstration on the 14th. Tickets and information are available on the Hong Kong Arts Centre website. Get involved.

What is it that made you want to reinterpret, or remix Birth of a Nation?

Okay well the first thing you've got remember with race in the United States is that it adds layers and layers of complexity to an already paradoxical society. I mean with film Birth of a Nation is the DNA of American cinema, if you look back. So when I was thinking of the last election with Bush dividing the US into red state, blue state. In a way that you really could that the former states of the confederacy had all voted for Bush in this strange way. It was making me think more and more about that, so I just took it from there.

What is the significance of the title Rebirth of a Nation?

Well it's about remixing, recycling, repurposing and what ends up happening with political landscapes, especially in the Obama era. You've got the Tea Party, and the Republicans and they are going crazy and my film was made during the centre of when Bush was starting all these wars so I wanted to try and get people thinking about the way that the past shapes the present, and in a way tell that story. The Re in the title was just a way of saying reason, recycle, repurpose.

America remains fairly divided to this day. Political and legal equality was eventually established, but on a social and economical level there is still a huge disparity. How much real progress has been made with racial equality?

Well, lets see, we just saw a huge situation where a guy got executed by the state of Georgia. There's a lot of problems between race and our place in the legal system. There's a lot of inequality based on economics, based strange statistical use of politics. A white yuppie who does cocaine, will serve a lot less time than an Asian, a Latino, or a black person who smokes weed. Something simple like that, you'd be surprised. When you start looking at the big picture and the numbers, it is eerie to see how statistically speaking we are more unequal than a lot of previous periods in United States' history.

What do you make of Griffith's image of Lincoln. The Great Heart/ Hero of the South, or do you see him as the Great Emancipator, or something else entirely?

Well regardless of how you feel about him one, Lincoln was a Republican, and two, he was a very progressive visionary on a lot of issues. So I respect his memory and I think he is an important figure. the funny thing you have to remember, he was hated in the South that's why he got assassinated. Amazingly enough there isn't anyway that you could all of a sudden make that the composite. It's very easy to remember he was killed because the Southerners hated him, I don't see why he becomes this figure, but it helps with the story for African-Americans. He's very respected, and he is very renowned as a hero for keeping the country together.

In the film you argue that Griffith's depiction of the Lincoln assassination is equivalent to the way the media portrayed events like Katrina and Iraq. What specific links would you make?

I would say that Lincoln and the way that that narrative set-up in the film, where his assassination all of a sudden leads to a worse treatment of the South. There's a lot to be argued for the way Katrina played out in the midst of the South as a kind of new forum for debate. You know, it's funny. Lincoln really was hated by the South and the Republicans because of the Civil War amazingly enough they were hated in the South for almost a century. It took the civil rights movement to get the South to move away from the Democrats. I always view that as a very strange paradox, especially from our current moment, because Republicans called it under Nixon the Southern strategy, which was to co-opt white anger in the South about the civil rights movement and to use that for political gain. Whereas Lincoln was just trying to make things work and be functional. There all these strange situations.

You have that great clip at the beginning where Griffiths is being asked about the truth of Birth of a Nation and he replies, "Truth...What is the truth?" How would you describe the media of today's relationship with the truth?

As we see all over the world, wars, revolutions, the fall of nation states and governments because of Facebook or Twitter. People want to hear what they view as something that relates to their life, their experiences. If their experience in life is misery, and people are on the TV saying everything is great, well, they are going to see that there is the old media and the new media. New media is far more responsive to actual conditions, more local perspectives, which a lot of the time is far more truthful than the national media or Fox News or whatever. If you compare that to what happened in North Africa with all these countries Libya and so on. People were able to compare and say look we are tired of this.

As you've mentioned there are numerous parallels between now and when Birth of a Nation was released, the red/blue divide, external threats, and so on. When you were making this film Bush was in power, since Obama has come in and looking at the reaction to him in certain parts of American society, do you see the fear of the Lynch character as slightly prophetic?

Yeah, he is mixed race, it's about someone who represents the fear of the blurring of the lines of ethnicity. Whites in the US and the Tea Party won't believe that Obama is American because he has a birth certificate from Hawaii. He is mixed at every level, so he represents complexity. But also what's eerie about it is he's not going to push pack as hard as he could. I think he's been letting the Republicans frame the debate on a lot of issues. So it's eerie because you want to see more of a push back, and actually amazingly enough, I think Hilary Clinton at this point probably would be able to push back because she is from a viewpoint within the norms of what they see as political discourse. Obama vs. Lynch it is eerie how resonant it is. He is not evil like Lynch, in fact Obama is a nice person and I think he is too nice.

In light of the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Civil War, with Obama in office, beyond symbolic importance has he substantively achieved much for African American rights?

Well, it is a very paradoxical situation because he doesn't want to push the idea of blackness too much because he feels like it would piss of whites. But the problem is just his existence has pissed off whites laughs. You know they will accept Bush, they will accept all sorts of stuff. But I think the fact that he is very smart, he went to Harvard for real, whereas Bush was a D- student who benefited from a lot of hook-ups is a very big issue for them. I think the Tea Party and the rank and file of Fox News Republicans find it difficult. You know, he hasn't really appointed that many black people to office, as a symbol it is very powerful but he is more of a centrist like Bill Clinton.

There are similarities between Obama and Lincoln, in some respect if Obama was to miss his 2nd term would this be in any way comparable to the Lincoln assassination for you?

Well, assassination is a whole different thing. Assassination implies that you were in power and they really couldn't get you any other way. Whereas what's happening now is there has been a relentless, I'm talking unflinching war against Obama since he even first got in office. The Republicans have been hitting him on every level to weaken the idea of a multicultural person in office, and they would probably have done the same thing to a woman. Anybody who is outside of this idea of a very stratified norm of what they view as American, which usually is white male. If it was an Asian, a Latino whatever I'm sure they would have done anything, as long as it's not one of them laughs.

Talking about a North South divide, most presidents of American have come from the South. Do you think there is any significance in that?

Yeah, I mean the South because they lost the war. There is actually a really funny book called A History of White People written by a Harvard professor, a very serious book on the construction of whiteness. In Europe, and I DJ in Europe all the time now, the Germans and the Swedish, the French have issues with the English, the Spanish have issues with the Basque, and so on, it's complex. But they are not all running around saying, "Hey, I'm White." The construction of whiteness is very much a part of the American project, so when you're saying presidents are from the South, that's because there you can easily play off race versus actual facts. So a lot of times the Republicans can get poor whites to vote against their interests, "You know what I don't need health care!" You'd be surprised. Or they'll say "the Earth was made in seven days" but they don't need science.

The Birth of a Nation in many respects marks the dawn of modern cinema. Do you think that with its DJ perspective Rebirth of a Nation is somewhat a pioneer in its own right?

With remix and DJ culture,with sampling, you can pull anything out of context and re-edit it, and make the edit itself become an art form. So sampling, the idea of literary play with words, games theory, mixed memories, all of that is part of the way the globe functions now. Once something is digital you can edit it and change it any direction. There is even software now which allows you to change someones face in a photograph. This is just the beginning.

The DJ as director and the cut and paste philosophy, what does it add to our understanding of cinema?

For me right now sampling is about pan-humanity. It's saying Asian, African, European, Latino, and so on, that we can exchange culture. That means that there is respect for the human subject, and it's not about region or one style. And sampling breaks open so much creativity. It's really important for me to celebrate that and it's also important for me to that as a literary and arts foundation for the twenty-first century.

In the past you've talked of Warhol's concept of the fund object. What does that mean to you?

Think of anytime you play a record, I'm talking like vinyl. You are dealing with a couple things, one, the record cover sleeve, two, the actual piece of vinyl. And the record cover sleeve, in my last book, I found the person who invented the record cover sleeve. He was still alive, his name is Alex Steimler. Alex created a revolution in graphic design on a lot levels, because you had to start thinking about visual and sound. When you say found objects, usually its a kind of collage. They pull the collage from bits of pieces of newspaper or books or posters and cut them up. But to do the same thing with sound you are doing the same thing with geography and memory. The found object becomes the world and I think sampling is like a mirror you hold up to the world.

A while back I saw Das Kabinet des Dr. Caligari screened while a new wave German punk band played. What other films do you think would be fit for musically influenced remixes?

I think music for re-score/remix, the perfect film is Metropolis and that's been done a couple times. Another film that could be really beautiful is 2001: A Space Odyssey. I'm really interested in a lot of Chinese cinema, you know Wong Kar Wai's 2046 and also some of the stuff coming out of Japan Akira Kurosawa Seven Samurai. I would love to see re-score's of those in the future.

Do you plan to do any of those yourself?

Yeah, I plan on doing a lot more. Right now my main project is The Book of Ice it just came out. Basically, I took a studio to Antarctica and went to all the main ice fields. The whole idea was to do what I call acoustic portraits of ice. I wanted as much as possible to show that you could have a kind of sampling applied to landscapes. Sampling is usually for records, but I wanted to show that you could sample geography and time. It was a really beautiful project. We went to Antarctica for 6 weeks and was staying in all these different glacier fields. It was super intense. It was so much fun and crazily remote. It was so cold if you fall in the water you would die in two minutes. I like doing weird projects it keeps life interesting.

Tony Hawks Interview

Interviewed for BC magazine.

Tony Hawks's first film, based on his travelogue novel of the same name, Round Ireland with a Fridge was selected for the Okinawa film festival's peace section. Naturally, Tony was not alone upon arrival and in tow was the fridge that began it all. Film in Japan had a chat with him about his film, and the challenges of turning his best-selling book into a screenplay.

FIJ: Most of the foreign guests withdrew from the festival in the light of the events in Tohoku. What made you decide to come?

TH: Had a look at the map and thought well, this is safe. And it seemed like a good time to come at a time like this. People just panic I think.

FIJ: For those who haven't heard of Round Ireland with a Fridge could you give them an idea of what it's all about?

TH: It's based on a true story, something that I actually did just over ten years ago, and the reason I did it was because of something I did about fifteen years ago on my first trip to Ireland. I was being driven in a car to this place Cavanagh, and I saw this old man by the side of the who was hitching with a fridge. I said to the driver, "Was that a guy hitching with a fridge?" and he went, "Oh, yeah." and he just never talked about it. I thought Ireland is an incredible place that someone who's hitching with a fridge isn't considered a conversation point.

I used to tell this story at dinner parties and then at one I said that Ireland is the one place in the world where you could hitch with a fridge and people would stop for you. A friend of mine said it wouldn't be possible. We drank a lot of wine, and I made a bet with him that I could do it. So I took a month off, bought a fridge and stood by the side of the road in Ireland. Spent a month there, had this incredible adventure, wrote about it and then people started approaching me about making it into a film, and that's what we've finally done.

FIJ: How does it feel to be bringing RIWAF round Okinawa?

TH: Well it's fantastic, there are moments when it's very surreal, because [the festival] is sponsored by different comedians and I don't know what they're saying and they are dressed in exotic costumes, and messing around. But it's fun and they are all very nice. There is a big generosity around them.

I suppose the wonderful thing about film is that you can reach another audience. I'd never be able to tell this story in Japan in any other way. The subtitles go up, and people watch, and you think, Wow people half way around the world are following this little silly story.

FIJ:That kind of answers my next question, why did you decide to make this into a film?

TH: Well the real reason was I started to receive a couple of emails dropping in via the website from producers saying, "Have the rights gone?" That makes you think, "Oh wow!" I didn't think there could ever be a film. Then I watched Straight Story a David Lynch film about a guy who goes around America on a lawnmower. I went to see that film, and not a lot happens in it. It's just a sweet film and I thought, well if they can do that then yes we have got enough to do this as a film. So I started thinking about how it could work as a screenplay and it kind of went from there.

FIJ:So was it difficult to adapt?

TH: It was, partly because it was the first time I'd ever done anything like that, and secondly because it's my experience, that I really had. But, I knew I had to change a couple of things. I really wanted to keep the spirit of the truth there, but you know, sometimes you have to combine two characters into one, and so on. The love story is a bit different, there's a a little romance in the book that nearly happens, but it happens a bit more in the film. So it was difficult. The hardest thing was people who kept reading the screenplay, kept saying we need to see more of a journey, more of a change in the lead character. That's the big difference in the film, that I actually portray myself as more of an arsehole than I really am. Well, at least I think so.

FIJ:I'm sure

TH: There's more of a healing process around the journey, a three act structure. But you thought you've got do it, and I think it works, well I hope it does anyway. We'll have to see.

FIJ:What was it like acting as yourself? I imagine that might be quite difficult?

TH: I think a lot of actors do in a way play themselves. If you think of Hugh Grant he kind of is him in his films, just with a different name. So an actor will always bring their own personality to a role, unless they're a really traditional actor and have to learn a dialect or something .But, very often the big famous stars, pretty much just turn up and say the lines. I suppose I was able to remember how I felt when things happened. It's odd in that you are playing yourself in a dramatic reconstruction of something you actually did. But, you just get on with it, really...

FIJ: Was it your first experience acting?

TH: Not really. I've done a few stage plays and a few TV things. But it was enough, because it's good to know how to carry on when there's a camera in your face. Not to panic or get scared. Some actors that you work with, you realize that it's sometimes quite a good idea not to tell them that you're filming because they do really well in rehearsal, and you say, "Okay let's do a take." and it doesn't come out so well. So sometimes you give a wink to the cameraman and say get this one.

FIJ:Were any of the rest of the cast real people, so to speak?

TH: Well, actually they were all actors. We did think of getting some of the real people. We shot quite a lot of the interior locations in London in Irish pubs. We found that pubs in London look more Irish than Irish ones. On the DVD extras though, we've got an interview with Antoinette, the character we based Roisin on. I still see them all but we didn't cast them in the film.

FIJ:How's their reaction been to the film? Do they approve of their celluloid versions?

TH: Yeah they like it I think. Bingo [the character who persuades Tony to go surfing and bring his fridge along] hasn't seen it yet. He rings me up and asks when I'm going to send him a copy. But I keep forgetting.

FIJ:Getting a fridge to surf in the first place looks incredibly difficult. Filming it must be immensely so?

TH: We did it exactly the way we did it in real life, which is literally put it on a surfboard an wait for the right wave to come along. It does just surf. Ed the director was saying I don't think this will work, and I was saying trust me it will. So that relief you see with me waving my arms in the air was a genuine moment, it wasn't really acting. That was great fun that day. It was a beautiful day, just being in the sea and arsing around with a surfboard and a fridge all day was great, just great. Because some days aren't, some days are really boring as hell. The rain starts and you're wet through. It's cold, and the winds blowing, you're shivering, and teeth chattering, then you have to go again. Like the opening ceremony to this festival.

FIJ:Ed Byne did a great job capturing the Irish countryside. How did he get on board with the project?

TH: I worked with him on Red Dwarf. He was the director and that's where I first started doing little bits of acting. I was in about four of them as Caligula. It's a big project when you take on a film and I was thinking I want someone that I know I'm going to get on with, who understands comedy. He popped into my head and I hadn't spoken to him for ages. Just rang him up out of the blue and said, "Ed, I'll send you this thing, see what you think?". And he was a good choice. He's genuinely a really nice guy, and that's important I think. A lot of films seem to be clashes all the time and didn't want that. I think he did a great job.

FIJ:It's your experience, so how was it like being directed by someone?

TH: Ed was very good. He'd sort of say, "I think it should be like this, but you tell me what you think." Every once in awhile I'd go to him and have a quiet word and say, "I don't think they should be reacting so strongly." or something. He's without an ego so he didn't mind. Most of the time he just understood it naturally, but if there was a little problem just had a word. Most of the time anyway all he was saying was, "Can you just say that a bit louder please?" It's a good job being a director!

FIJ:Some people have labelled the criticism that the Irish characters are perhaps cultural stereotypes? How would you respond to that?

TH: I think with that, in a way you're in a no-win situation. Irish people, particularly, are very very sensitive about this. When I wrote the book I was expecting that but actually, it didn't really happen. Because it was true and I was writing about how people are. Irish people themselves make fun of stereotypes, and it is true that there is going to be a certain type of character who's going to be like that. And it is true, obviously, that you're going to write about the people like that, rather than the people who are exactly like you. They are not as interesting. Those people do exist and people expect to see it. But, I don't think it's as strong as it can be in some American films, where they really are over the top. There is nothing in there that isn't based on exactly how Irish people were around me and the fridge. So I would just refute that allegation, they're just wrong! (laughs)

FIJ:Could you tell me what Fridge D'Or is?

TH: It's a jokey name for the company we made to make the film. I found various people to put money in, and then formed a company. It's called an EIS scheme, which is enterprise initiative scheme, a good tax-break. We thought Palme D'Or, Fridge D'Or. Normally, you make a company for each individual film and that was for RIWAF. I don't have any plans to start Fridge D'Or into a full on production company.

FIJ: In your own words what does the philosophy, "Have faith in the fridge." mean?

TH: I suppose what it is really, it's like trusting that things are going to work out okay, without necessarily needing to know exactly what it is that's going to make that happen. I think human beings have a sort of desire to say, "I need to define what this is, this is god, this is this..."and so on. So actually if you live you're life in the right way, without fear, without endlessly worrying about stuff, it'll actually pretty much work out okay. If you embrace that, doors will open for you. I kind of said it on the original trip as a joke, "I'll be alright, I've got the fridge with me." So I started to say it as a joke, and then I started to realize that by thinking and talking like that it all was okay. You do have to have some kind of faith in it, and good things will happen.

FIJ:How has it affected your life?

TH: It's sort of worked. It's a bit like having a faith without really needing to be religious. It's about fear, which is the enemy to our progress. There's a little voice saying, "What if you do that? What will happen?" And people sometimes say I'm a risk taker, but I don't think I am. I always sit down and say what's the worst that will happen here, am I okay with that if it happens? If you are okay with that, then you do it. It's just fun, it's life. It can be more fun than it is for a lot of people because everyone, your mum, your grandparents, your friends are saying, "No, don't do that! You'll lose your pension, you'll lose your..." Throw all that off and just dive into the pool!

FIJ:So you had all these pressures when you took that decision to off with the fridge?

TH: Well, that's the slight difference. I think in reality, I was already the kind of person who would've done that anyway. The film is telling the story maybe of someone who wouldn't have done that, and circumstance made them do it. I was already in real life saying, Ireland is the place you could do this, I believe that. That's what made the screenplay difficult because if I'd done that in the screenplay the change in Tony was over before it had even started. So we had to have a character who was not going to really enjoy it at the start and want to call it a day. That was the change.

FIJ:On a more general topic comedy is one of the harder things to translate culturally. What's been your opinion of some of the comedy you've seen here?

TH: You're absolutely right. You simply can't make a proper judgement on it. I speak French and I go to France quite a lot, and I still don't get French comedy. I don't understand it at all. It seems big, and surreal. Then we do have our Monty Python, and Americans might have looked at that and thought it was completely weird. I'm going to see Omu Raisu [the new film from Yuichi Kimura]today, so we'll see.

FIJ:Have international audiences reacted to the film differently?

TH: We met the Japanese jury and they all seemed to really love it. It did well in America. So I think, touch-wood, it has a kind of international appeal. It's very gentle, too. It's not going in demanding belly laughs. It's actually going in and saying here's a story. It doesn't have to be defined as a comedy really. It's just a drama. Hopefully, you'll smile at some bits, and laugh at others. That's your choice.

FIJ:On that logic, do you think it's appropriate that it was put in the peace section, as apposed to the laugh section?

TH: I know the book was billed as a comedy book. It does make people laugh and I was tring to be funny in it. But, I've always felt that the story and its message is quite a positive thing. There's a letter in the film saying, "I'm growing to like this. You put your fridge by the side of the road, stick out your hand, and you trust that someone will come along and help you," and they do because people are nice. That's really not a message that get's waved in front of you very often. What you do hear is people are out to rip you off, people are out to take advantage of you, but it's not really the truth. There's a small percentage that might, but even if you behave in the right way around them they might behave differently to you. You go in, and if you behave openly and generously to them, then they'll behave differently to you. That's the message I wanted to get across.

FIJ:What do you have coming next?

TH: There's a film festival in Paris which we're headed to. But, the second book I did Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, which is based on another wacky bet that I had to play the entire Moldovan football team at tennis one by one. That's shot, and we're editing that now. It's at that sort of scary stage. You've got all the pieces, but you have to assemble it it. Hope it works!

President Osaki of Yoshimoto Kogyo Interview

Interviewed for BC Magazine

In Japan when you think comedy, you think Yoshimoto. It is the top dog in Japanese O Warai. As an agency it has the lion's share, about a 90% , of Japanese comedians on its roster. The company has begun expanding from its roots and moving into new exciting directions. The Okinawa Film Festival is one of those, and the man at the top of Yoshimoto President Osaki took some time to talk to Film in Japan about the festival, the difficult choice to go ahead with the event, Yoshimoto itself, and Japanese comedy in general

Translated by Adam Higgins

FIJ - Thank you for having me here at the Okinawa film festival. What do you think makes Okinawa film festival unique and special? It seems to me to be quite an unusual film festival.

O - Well there are lots of film festivals in Asia: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tokyo etc. This film festival started later, so we didn’t want to take away from those festivals or do the same thing. As for the title, our company isn’t just film production so I wanted to include film, T.V., radio, newspapers, magazines and internet, but the title would have been too long. So, I went with film festival. We are in an age in which media walls are breaking down. This festival is a place for people to meet and exchange know-how and create new media. Okinawa is also the closest part of Japan to Asia so it is convenient for visitors. It’s our company so there is a focus on comedy, which I think is unusual.

FIJ - Could you talk me through the decision to continue with the festival in light of the events in Tohoku?

O - Fifteen or sixteen years ago in Osaka Yoshimoto Industry experienced the earthquake and we struggled to cope. This time I wanted to do everything I could to push forward. Although, of course the decision came from upstairs, I feel every employee, every performer wanted to push forward.

FIJ -Could you tell me what fundraising will be going on during the festival?

O - People will be carrying donation boxes, focused around the talents. Regardless of their area people will be collecting donations. Our website will also be collecting donations.

FIJ -The festival has grown a lot in just three years, attendance has increased dramatically. What are your aims for the future?

O - When the festival began lots of people gathered together, exchanging information starting new projects. Since beginning the festival more films have been made on a local level. I would like this to continue and for there to be more films made like this in all Asian countries.

FIJ - Actually I was going to ask about the local organization project. What is it that makes a local film special? Compared to what we’re used to with Hollywood and big Japanese productions.

O - Local films have their own local legends and tales, which can be used as a basis. Then the locals and our staff and talents can introduce local specialties, local celebrities. Through communication we can make a film. A film that may not be for the big screen, but one to be watched in Japan or Asia, perhaps in a coffee house or city hall. The goal is to make a network where there wasn’t one before. It won’t fit in with Hollywood releases, but it should show local traditions and feelings.

FIJ - Could you explain the theme of ‘Yell, Laugh and Peace’?

O - What our company can do is make you smile and make you laugh. Doing it in Okinawa represents peace. The original theme was ‘love and peace’. In light of the Tohoku earthquake, Okinawa a place that has had a tough history, now has a chance to send a message of peace. Perhaps, for the first time since the war. In Shinjuku and Shibuya the young people can have fun thanks to Okinawa.

FIJ - Could you tell me a little about the film selection. Why did you choose the films that you did and how did you find them?

O - I left the choice to the Director, Konishita, The production was up to the individual directors, I didn’t interfere.

FIJ - Talking about the Yoshimoto company, originally it was solely about comedy and now it’s expanding and expanding into all different areas. Can you talk to me a little about the transition?

O - Our basis is comedians, but we’ve been expanding into musicians, artists, sports starts etc. A natural business progression. In America stars often have a private manager, but in Japan it is just the one boss who says what’s what - but, we’re different from that, closer to an agent. We offer management in order for the star to step forth into the world.

FIJ - If you compare the American individual model what are the benefits of the Japanese model?

O - Each have their own good points. Within an agency there is a lot of information that comes in; we have this film, we have this drama in this country etc. An agency has more information than one manager. The agent is also better at appropriate distribution for the time and the person.

FIJ - Out of Yoshimoto’s production, I’m sure this is a difficult question, but is there one person, or a group, that you’re particularly proud of?

O - We celebrate our 100 year anniversary (“A hundred fools”) soon (laughs). We sell Baka and Aho (Idiot and Fool).There can’t be any other company like ours.

FIJ -: Comedy can be very specific to its country, what challenges do you see in marketing Japanese comedy on a more international scale?

O - There are comedians all over the world: India,Philippines, Indonesia, England, France, American etc. And those comedians are really famous there. Just hearing their name will make you laugh. But, if they take one step out of their country, no one knows who they are. So, with comedy it’s partly a language barrier, but also the varying lifestyles, and customs are difficult to get across to other cultures. But, perhaps, with the internet we have a chance to spread out and expand. Before, the Japanese market alone was enough for us, but now we need to reach out and expand.

FIJ - Lastly, what’s key aspect of a successful festival like this?

O - I think the staff and the performances and whether they can charm the people.That's the basis.

Yoko Minamino Interview

Interviewed for BC Magazine

Yoko Minamino was a teen sensation in Japan in the early nineties working as a pop idol, modelling and singing. She has since moved into television and film, and is a regular fixture on the Japanese late-night variety shows. She was in Okinawa with her new film Omu-Raisu (Omellete Rice), directed by Japanese comedian Yuichi Kimura. It is the story of a man with a powerful imagination wandering around town collecting the ingredients for the titular Japanese version of the classic omellete. On his journey he spots curiosities hidden amongst the everyday life of his town.

Translated by Adam Higgins

FIJ - Is this your first time at the Okinawa film festival? How are you enjoying it?

YM -Yes, this is my first time. I’ve been an actress for twenty five years and been to many film festivals, but here there’re a lot of comedians, so it’s really lively despite the cold. Everyone’s having a great time.

FIJ - Could you tell me what ‘Omuraisu’ is about please?

YM - It’s a film that couldn’t have been made without the director, Kimura. Just reading the script it’s a little hard to understand. Even watching it there may be some people who find it hard to understand. You have to give it several viewings.

FIJ - You were only in it very briefly but your segment was very funny. Could you describe your part in it for me?

YM -There were close to one hundred famous talents in the film, so yes my role was very small. My character is a typical housewife from Japan of yesteryear. The husband begs the wife to get married, but after they’re married he starts ordering her around: “Where’s my dinner” etc.

FIJ - How did you become involved with the film?

YM - I was friends with Kimura from before, so he spoke to me about the film. I saw some promotional materialand was intrigued. Then there was a photo shoot.

FIJ - The cast is full of famous comedians and talents what was it like working with them?

YM - Everyone knew the director was little different, so we listened to what he had to say. The comedians were very actor-like and the actors tried to capture their essence. We naturally came together.

FIJ - What was it like working with Yuichi Kimura?

YM -He is a modest, well mannered man. He wants everyone to enjoy a world of imagination and laughter.

FIJ - When you were making your section did you have original input?

YM - The director can’t change your expression every second - so it’s something an actress needs to think about for herself. You need to present your character properly without too many words.

FIJ - The film has many funny sections, which ones stood out for you in particular?

YM -The Korean barbecue scene. If you are told to change something about yourself, you do it. But then if you are then asked why you changed you’re not sure. This is typical Japanese behavior.

FIJ - What do you think is special about Japanese comedy? What makes it unique?

YM - Even in Japan the humor in Tokyo is different from the humor in Osaka. I’m from Osaka so I like physicalhumor. The director is from Kyoto so again it’s slightly different. But, ultimately, the purpose of comedy is to amuse people. And I want to work with people like who enjoy doing that.

FIJ - What Japanese actors, actresses or maybe comedians do you admire?

YM - Yamada Isuzu. A little old, but an actress everyone respects. Despite looking pretty she’d act bad and speak sarcastically. At first I didn’t like it, but then I came to see it as very human.

FIJ - How did you get into acting? Originally you were an idol. How did you make the transition?

YM - I think the time was right. Other idols mainly did songs, while some acted. It was a very natural progression for me: T.V. dramas, the stage, film - I had chances to act. I didn’t think it would last this long though (laughs)

FIJ -So, you’ve worked in T.V. and film. How are they different and which do you prefer?

YM - Now filming on films and T.V. dramas is fundamentally the same. We used to shoot with VTR with many cameras. You couldn’t see the film on set, so the professionals would be nervous. Now you can see the film so you can review and edit while filming. I think I’m getting old as I liked the old way.

FIJ - What are you going to be working on in the future?

YM - I’m mainly doing dramas, I don’t have a movie lined up. In spring, I will also do a programme that introduces traditional Japanese art like Kabuki and No. Young people and foreigners aren’t familiar with these so I’m looking forward to doing this.

FIJ - In the wake of the Tohoku earthquake do you have a message that you’d like to send to the people affected by this tragedy?

YM -Sixteen years ago I was in Hyogo, Kobe. I’d almost forgotten that earthquake then another struck. When I think of those affected I’m overwhelmed with emotion. I won’t forget it or the fragility of life. It will take time but I know they are in the middle of building an even greater Tohoku.

Tuan Hong and Alex Moscato interview

Tuan Hong and Alex Moscato are two Tokyo based film-makers. They began their career with the short film My Ex-Girlfriend's TV, about a guy struggling to get rid of said household appliance, post-break up. They have just finished Use Your Delusion, which is their first feature length film.

Film in Japan:What is Use Your Delusion about?

Alex Moscato: UYD is a dark comedy about the exploits of four foreigner Karaoke contestants ridden with delusions of grandeur and split personality disorder. The camera documents their trials and absurdities as they participate in the Kings of Karaoke competition held in Tokyo, Japan. The audience is taken behind the scenes, into their video blogs, and right into the heart of the drama where our contestants ultimately learn that the true path to becoming the king is not by destroying one’s opponent, but by defeating oneself.

Tuan Hong: The film mainly follows Lugnut, a guy who is so deep into his delusions that he believes he is Axl Rose as well as a living God. He is defending his title as the reigning karaoke champion. His opposition is Virginia, an ex-childhood star turned lawyer who becomes obsessed trying to expose him for just being a regular guy. The other two contestants are Friggy Fresh, a struggling hip hop artist hoping to build a fan base and Travis McDane, who longs to reunite with his ex-band, Scrotus and win their acceptance. The film deals with themes of celebrity culture, identity crisis, and of course, delusion.

FIJ: Where did you get the idea for UYD?

AM: Believe it or not it was based on a hilarious karaoke performance of Hungry like a Wolf [by Duran Duran]. The performance was so funny we just had to write a script. Little had we known at the time what magnitude and depth the script would take on. It really makes us see how any event in one’s life no matter how insignificant it seems at the time, has the potential to grow into an experience of a lifetime.

TH: From the beginning we wanted larger than life characters battling it out in a karaoke tournament. Outlandish karaoke performances and the eccentricities of popular musicians were the main source of inspiration.

FIJ: The film treads a line between comedy and social commentary, how would you classify UYD?

TH: I think it's pretty difficult to pin down UYD. The film really grew organically and as it did it and we had to continually steer the film back to the original intention and themes of the film.

AM: We wanted to make something with depth that was also entertaining and fun. When you watch tabloid coverage of some celebrity scandal you are only dealing with the entertainment aspect of it. And the typical response to it is a reactive knee jerk judgment on how immoral the celebrity is.

So we wanted to turn this on its head and show that we, the viewer, share more in common with the very celebrities whose downfall we revel in. So we created characters who weren’t famous, but acted as if they were. We gave them all of the same quirks and eccentricities. But when watching normal people act as if they were famous makes the entire thing look quite absurd. The result was a hilarious movie that strives to show the audiences the delusions that we all share in society as a whole.

FIJ: How did you find the actors, and how large a team did you have?

AM: The main actors are our close friends. And what makes this movie so unique was that the actors were an integral part of the creative process. They designed their own wardrobe and were a large part in creating their own character. In fact, an inspired monologue in front of the camera had the potential to take the movie in an entirely different direction never conceived before at the time.

TH: The result is four very unique independent perspectives that were brought together by Alex and myself through the editing process and the graphical and artistic look of the film.

FIJ: UYD pokes fun at ex-pats and their cultural mishaps, does any of your own experience come into the film? Are any of the characters exaggerated incarnations of people you've met in Japan?

TH: Living in Japan we come across a lot of foreign guys who come here, receive a lot of attention and let their egos get out of control often leading to self destruction. Some of the ex-pats out in Tokyo strut around like celebrities and completely change how they dress and behave from how they were back in their home country. Tokyo really gives you that liberty to start again with a clean slate and people’s egos do take over.

AM: We saw the humor and the irony in this. It just seemed so absurd. So yes, this was definitely a big influence on how we developed the characters.

FIJ: The film was made on a small budget. What were the challenges of this and what ways did you find to cut corners?

AM: Like many independent films, people contribute out of the love of creating and being part of a film. And what I think is most important when you ask someone for help is to express your enthusiasm and love of the project. That enthusiasm is contagious. And you’d be surprised how many people would want to help you if you just ask. For example, a friend was kind enough to take us up in a Cessna [an airplane] for free so that we could get aerial shots of Tokyo. Another friend, who is a very high profile producer, agreed to compose the theme songs for the characters for free.
So I don’t think the phrase, cutting corners is appropriate. It wasn’t the type of movie where you had to make the most of whatever money you could scrounge from the investors. The movie was conceived from the beginning as getting people together who wanted to share their talents and express themselves. So I guess there were no corners to cut.

TH: Well, we had to stretch the money we had on mainly the locations for the scripted scenes. The majority of the budget went into a multi-staged studio that happened to have a lot of ready-made sets that were suitable for the film. The main karaoke room for the competition took up most of the rest of the budget, it was filmed in the biggest karaoke room of it’s kind in Japan, or so that’s what they claim.

FIJ: The mockumentary style works really well, why did you decide to take this route?

TH: We’d put the actors in front of the camera and have them talk. We used this to help develop their characters and some of their spontaneous monologues turned out to be so dynamic and entertaining, we realized that this was the best way to bring out the depth of the movie. Also, when we filmed the more rigid scripted scenes, something felt stale about it.

AM: We were filming a movie about eccentric people. And we felt the best way to film their absurd eccentricities was to put them in situations where they were free to act completely unexpectedly. Of course this posed a real challenge to the writing and editing. But the result was well worth it.


FIJ: The film features, in its story and the way it's told, lots of social media, "koktv", Facebook, etc. What significance does this have?

TH: The film took over two years to make and in this time we saw how fast the world around us was changing, especially with the impact of the social media. Due to the organic nature of the making of the film, we felt it was essential to include in the narrative.

AM: Our movie is essentially about identity crisis. And as we witness global recession, war, regime change and social upheaval, one cannot help but see that the world is going through a global identity crisis right now. And with the rise of the internet, even traditional media is going through an identity crisis. People, who are increasingly growing skeptical of TV news are turning to the internet and reading blogs of citizen reporters. People download music and film these days instead of buying DVDs or CDs. So in response to all of this, traditional media is trying to branch out into the internet in order to reclaim its subscribers. And the result is a modern media that doesn’t quite know how to define itself as being either new media or old media. It seems stuck in a form of purgatory between heaven and hell trying to atone for its sins of the past, metaphorically. And this is epitomized in our movie in the character Phil Dutton, a famous music producer, who in reaction to plummeting CD sales decides to air the Kings of Karaoke tournament through streaming video.

On the other side there are many musicians and artists who felt excluded from the major production companies who are turning to the Internet to promote themselves. And this is depicted in our movie through the character Friggy Fresh who shamelessly promotes himself through social media and his video blog throughout the movie. His character was influenced by the fact that we see how the power of the internet gives rise to individual voices can be a double edged sword. The internet can be used for self-expression or to rage out against wrongs committed by society, which we see as a powerful productive force. But at the same time it promotes narcissism. Everybody is documenting their lives and promoting themselves to their fans. They are embracing the new media, but seem to be manifesting the ideals of the old media. And this works perfectly with the theme of our movie which focuses on normal people who act like celebrities.


FIJ: This being your first feature, how did you find the transition from making shorts? Did you have to adapt your style?

TH: There were a few difficulties we ran into with making a full feature. The first is dealing with the pace and flow of the film. With the shorts, we had to be really concise with our shots and I was more comfortable with that. With the scenes in UYD they really took a life of their own and I found it difficult to regulate the flow of the film. There was also the problem with the information and how it was presented, a lot happens in the film and with so many major characters it was deceiving to us as we were familiar with the plot, we were too immersed in the film and had difficulty seeing it through fresh eyes.

AM: The fact that we hadn’t made a feature before ironically made it possible for us to make one under our current circumstances at the time. We had no money. Just an idea and a small talented crew. We were extremely idealistic.

I think many people get discouraged when they go through the logistical details of what making a movie actually entails. The money, the locations, the equipment, the time, the organization… And it’s a shame. Cause a lot of talented people with dreams and ambitions of creating something never end up taking the chance to just do it.

We didn’t have the resources to make a feature. But eventually we decided to put our fears to the side. We didn’t know how it would all come together. We just knew that somehow it would work out. And I think it was that mentality that allowed us to secure a lot of great talent and a lot of people who wanted to contribute to making a great film.

FIJ: What challenges, or benefits, came from being a foreign film maker working in Japan?

TH: The obvious hindrance is the language problem, it made it difficult for us to find and seal locations and it raised problems with working with the Japanese actors. Due to the language barrier it was difficult to explain script points and to give them exact directions. A major plus would be Tokyo itself. It's such a vibrant place, we really wanted to show the city to the audience. Showing the locals thoughts and feelings and interacting with the characters also fleshed out the feel of the city. However Tokyo is a really noisy place, there are trucks with loudspeakers blaring, Cicadas in the summer buzzing, and masses of people and traffic bustling about. The sound was an absolute nightmare.

AM: Japan is radically different to anything we’ve experienced in western culture. Things that are strange to us are normal to them and vice versa. We come from a culture that glorifies and encourages one to stand out, while in Japan they encourage one to blend into the community. There is a real sense of beauty and dysfunction to both ways of life. And that really comes through in our characters. They are characters who strive to stand out and seek attention. But we don’t take a one sided stance on it, neither demonizing nor glorifying it. We show the absurdity as well as the humanity in it. And we leave the audience to judge. We ask what it means to be normal, and question where that drive comes from to not want to be normal.

And the beauty of shooting a movie about identity crisis in Japan is that it really is a strange and intriguing country to the foreign observer. There is something so alien yet intriguing about Tokyo. And once you get past all of the quirkiness that surrounds you, there is a real sense of humanity beneath it. These are the very qualities we wanted to instill in our characters.

FIJ: Has the reaction varied between the different audiences you've shown it to?

TH: The foreigners living or that have lived in Japan are the ones that can really get all the small cultural differences. Of course the Japanese audience had difficulties as we have yet to subtitle it to Japanese and the humour is mainly dialogue based and is generally aimed at a Western audience. The audience in New York actually felt rather awkward with some of the humour concerning the cultural differences. Overall though the reaction has been really positive and as we have gone on making changes the response to the pacing and plot comprehension has really improved.

AM: As filmmakers it is very hard to distance yourself from what you make. So to be honest, we had no idea how people would react to the movie. It’s also a movie that switches from dry humor, to goofy, to dark. So we had no idea how the audience would take this. First we were wondering if the humor was either too dry, cryptic or absurd. Then we wondered if the darker scenes would put people off. But when we saw that people were laughing all the way through we realized that we made something entertaining. As for the darker scenes in the movie people loved the acting and others debated the character’s mental health. So it was then that we realized we had made something engaging. To connect with the audience on that level gave us such a feeling of satisfaction and galvanized us to promote the film.

On another note, we also noticed that people tend to identify with one of the four characters. I think this is because the four characters are so different from each other. It is a movie that can be understood from different vantage points. And people felt such a liking or an aversion to specific characters that the way they talked about them resembled coworkers gossiping about other coworkers around the office water cooler. Something that made me laugh.

FIJ: What filmmakers do you admire and what has influenced your work?

TH: We watched many mockumentaries, comedies, documentaries and TV shows like American Idol in the process of making the film and I think the main influences for this film would be Best in Show, Anvil, and Hard Core Logo. Best in Show was the basis, Anvil was discovered in the middle of the film and coincidently it had several similarities to our film. I just found out recently that the process Christopher [Guest] took to make Best in Show was rather similar to ours. Apparently, he filmed over 60 hours of footage of the main characters just talking in front of the camera then it took him 6 months to edit it down which is way over the average in Hollywood. We discovered Hard Core Logo towards the end and I think this influenced in bringing out the depth and dark side to the film. Personally, I admire many filmmakers, but the ones who have inspired me with this project would be Christopher Guest, Woody Allen and Darren Aronfsky.

AM: Our first influence was actually the TV show American Idol. We were awed by all of those crazed fans and the desperation of the contestants and the sensationalism of the entire event in it’s graphics, montages and editing. We knew we wanted to spoof this. And as we worked on the movie we watched a lot of mockumentaries. One of the first mockumentaries we saw was Best In Show. Our movie revolves around four characters as does Christopher Guest’s film. So just watching how he wove the interviews of the four pairs of contestants helped us a lot in understanding how to pace a movie with so many characters. Another film we watched was Anvil. Even though this movie was actually a documentary, it could have been a mockumentary. These characters were goofy and over the top, but there was a real humanity to them. And that is what struck us about the movie. Cause at first, we felt that our characters weren’t likable enough. And watching how in Anvil these characters that would be so easy to hate, you just couldn’t help but fall in love with them. So we wanted to really bring out the humanity in our characters in UYD as well. And I’d say that the last film that really influenced us was Hardcore Logo. We loved how it was dark and arty, but didn’t feel like an art film. There was nothing pretentious to it. And actually on one of the last cuts of our film, we explored the darker sides of the characters more and gave it more of an artistic feel in certain parts of the film.

FIJ: Do you have anything new in the pipeline?

TH: It's been a real journey making the film and for now I would like to focus on getting the film in festivals and on the distribution side of the industry. The writer Haruki Murakami said that writing a novel is very rewarding but it takes a lot out of him and he feels that writing short stories revitalizes him and sparks ideas that could develop into future novels. I feel very much the same way after finishing this film and would love to make some more shorts and music videos before delving again into a full feature. But if the right idea emerges, I'll go with the flow.