Interview
■Award Winners of International Competition
■Award Winners of Japanese Film Competition
Award Winners of International Competition
＜Grand Prize and Audience Award＞ Patrice NEZAN (Producer) “The Tower”
― How do you feel after receiving the Grand Prize and the Audience Award?
We are not an animation studio and so we are not specialized for animation. We make films. We try to tell stories. We try to share with audiences topics of our contemporary societies. For us it is a great pleasure because we never considered our film as an animation film. It’s just a film. That’s why we are so pleased to be selected among all fiction films. For us the point is to reach the audience with a strong and emotional story. Thanks to the puppets, we can really reach the hearts of the audience because we can take a distance on the topic of the refugee camp.
― What do you think about the reaction of the Japanese audience?
I was wondering how the Japanese audience would appreciate our film because the film deals with geo-political issues but because also our film deals with the transmission of a memory from one generation to another. We are pleased to find out that this is kind of a universal story that reaches, it seems very deeply, to the audience. We are very influenced by Japanese animations and Japanese graphic novels and we believe that this is a common and universal language that anybody from all over the world can appreciate. It was very pleasant to find out and to make sure that it is the case.
― Would you let us know about your new project and share a message with us?
We are right now editing an Iraqi film from a director who lived in exile for the last 20 years. We hope the film will help the audience to understand what it’s like living in a war-torn city. These are not only images from the news but there are real people living there. And for Director Mats Grorud, we are developing a new project. He is an activist and wants to use cinema in order to take part in the debate of our societies. Our next project is about the oil situation in Africa with lots of European countries there getting their hands on the African countries and governments. Maybe we are very responsible for what is happening right now in Africa. In the film, we give an awareness to this situation in order to bring about change.
＜Best Director＞ Stefan KITANOV (Producer) “Irina”
― How do you feel after receiving the Best Director?
I feel great. It’s my first time in Japan and my family name is Kitano(v), so it’s a very special moment. I’m very glad that we were able to share our film with the Japanese audience. I believe that after Bulgarian yogurt, the sumo wrestler Kotooshu, Bulgarian films will be the third thing that Bulgaria could be associated with in Japan.
― What do you think about the reaction of the Japanese audience?
I couldn’t see both screenings of the film with the audience but I could see the final credits and I felt the audience was very intense and stayed until the very end of the film. Most of the audience in the cinema which was almost fully packed for both screenings stayed for the Q&A, and it’s a great feeling for the filmmakers who put effort and tears into creating something. The Q&As were also very intense with many intelligent and precise questions asked. It gave me pleasure.
― Would you let us know about your new project and share a message with us?
The name Nadejda means hope, so I hope that Nadejda’s next film will be as successful as Irina. The film is still traveling very well around the world receiving awards at various festivals. I think this is the 17th award for the film and the second award for Nadejda as Best Director, which is very important for a filmmaker after her first feature film.
＜Best Director＞ Ulaa SALIM (Director) “Sons of Denmark”
― How do you feel after receiving the Best Director?
I’m very happy and also it is always a surprise to get an award when you don’t expect it. I’m pleased to have this award and it means a lot to me. It’s encouraging me as a young filmmaker to get such an award.
― What do you think about the reaction of the Japanese audience?
I was very happy to see that the audience reacted and resonated in such a way that it did. It seems like the questions they had, the emotions they had, and the reflections they had about the film were very alike in Denmark and in Netherlands where we were. So it was, in a way, encouraging to see that it’s universal. The language of cinema somehow translates throughout our cultures and histories of countries.
― Would you let us know about your new project and share a message with us?
I’m working on it now. Unlike this film, which is about fear and hate, for the next film, I would love to do something different. So, it will be about love and sorrow, but hopefully it’ll also resonate with people in Japan and other places in the world.
Award Winners of Japanese Film Competition
＜Best Picture (Japanese Feature Category)＞ Taku TSUBOI (Director) “Sacrifice”
― How do you feel after receiving the Best Picture?
I have enjoyed the whole festival and thought it was a very diverse festival. The audience were a mix of Japanese and non-Japanese children, fathers and mothers, even grand-fathers and grand-mothers with and without disabilities. I thought showing my film to these audiences was a precious thing. I am very honored that the first screening of my first feature film was at SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL.
― What do you think after participating in the SKIP CITY INTERNATIONALA D-Cinema FESTIVAL?
I was encouraged by all messages from the audience even if they were not positive and I want to keep making more films, because this was the first experience for me to have opinions from so many people about my film. I am very happy that many people watched my film.
― Would you let us know about your new project and share a message with us?
I don't think stories and movies have the power to deal with something bad when they happen, but after a while they can be a great shield against things that come later, I think. Bit by bit I'd like to make a shield that can protect someone's heart, no matter how painful or time-consuming it may be.
＜Best Picture (Japanese Short Category)＞ Tatsuya UTSUNO (Director) “The Distant Light”
― How do you feel after receiving the Best Picture?
I had a chance to talk with Naoko Ogigami, the President of the Jury and she told me that she never watched a film like mine. For me it is the reason I make films - to show the image and the character’s movement which the audience has never seen before. I’m very happy because at least one audience received my thought. It will be motivation for me to make more films.
― What do you think after participating in the SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL?
I feel the same as at the Closing Ceremony when Director Takashi Miike mentioned what he thought about the festival. I have participated in some film festivals. I have some negative thoughts about film festivals, however, because I felt some distance as a crew member who usually works shooting scenes. Meanwhile, the filmmakers and the audience are close at SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL. It is very unique and I think it was a very great experience for me to be able to screen my film at a festival like SKIP CITY.
― Would you let us know about your new project and share a message with us?
I will make films to show the image and the characters’ conversations which the audience has never seen. First of all, I want to make a feature film and then a commercial debut film. I hope to make films which make the overseas audience surprised by being different from their image of Japanese films.
＜Audience Award (Japanese Feature Category)＞ Takashi HAGA, Sho SUZUKI (Director) “Me & My Brother’s Mistress”
― How do you feel after receiving the Audience Award?
(Haga)
I think films are not completed even if we have finished the creation process. They are completed when the audience watches them. I am very happy because my film reached the audience and received the Audience Award.
(Suzuki)
I have been enjoying films since I was a kid. I make films to attract the audience like I enjoy the films by directors I respect. I’m grateful to receive the Audience Award as it means the audience enjoyed my film. I hope to make more films to attract the audience.
― What do you think after participating in the SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL?
(Haga)
The screening conditions were amazingly great. The image was clear, and for sound, I, Director of this film, was surprised with the sound of the film. I am touched because the audience laughed at the scenes which I tried to make them do and some of them told me that they cried.
(Suzuki)
I was watching the film as one of the audience members and I could become united with the audience. I am very pleased when the audience reacted to the scenes which we tried to make them respond to. I naturally laughed and reacted even though I of course knew what was going to happen in the film. It was a great and precious experience for me.
― Would you let us know about your new project and share a message with us?
(Haga)
We both (Director Suzuki and I) have loved Terminator 2: Judgment Day since we were kids. I hope to make great entertainment like that.
(Suzuki)
I’ll try to become a director like James Cameron.
＜Audience Award (Japanese Short Category)＞ Takuma SATO (Director) “Sticks and Stones”
― How do you feel after receiving the Audience Award?
The topic of my film was comprehensive rehabilitation and the story was between a therapist who looks after people who are unable to walk and a patient. Honestly, I was shooting the film and wondering why I as a man who can walk am making this film. I’m very happy to receive the Audience Award because it means the audience could feel something through watching my film.
― What do you think after participating in the SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL?
I was surprised because many therapists who work for comprehensive rehabilitation hospitals came to the screenings. They told me that some scenes were so realistic. I am pleased because I had interviewed with therapists and patients for about one year for this film and the research was reflected in the scenes. I watched some other films in the festival and thought there were a variety of films. Furthermore it was very exciting to meet other young filmmakers and talk with them.
― Would you let us know about your new project and share a message with us?
I always think that making films is difficult. That’s why I have to consider what I should do and what I can do for films. I want to keep making films while learning more about films.
＜SKIP CITY AWARD＞ Teppei ISOBE (Director) “F is for Future”
― How do you feel after receiving the SKIP CITY AWARD?
Last year I received an award with my short film (Who Knows about My Life) at SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL and commented that I would come back with a feature film. Although I didn’t think it would come true only one year later, I think that receiving the award encouraged me to make my first feature film. I was already honored to have the film selected and didn’t think about receiving an award. I’m happy to tell the good news to the cast and crew, and people in Hachioji because that’s where the film was shot in its entirety.
― What do you think after participating in the SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL?
I think SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL is a caring festival. The waiting room for the Q&A session was like catching up at a high-school reunion. All I can say is I’m very happy because the film had its world premiere and received an award here.
― Would you let us know about your new project and share a message with us?
Because F is for Future is my first feature film, I hope it will be theatrically released. That’s my goal now. I want to come back to SKIP CITY as I have been developing some feature projects. The award encourages me to make a new film.