27th of July, two days ago, the first screening of KINGYO was held as part of the short film competition program in the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2010.
I was surprised by the amount of audiences, being a Tuesday morning and all. Mine was the last one to play, so I got to watch the other three short films, which were all really diverse in tone and genres: A fantasy black comedy, a cyberpunk samurai actioner, and a coming-of-age tale. Left the hall when KINGYO started playing, so not entirely sure of its reception.
The filmmakers and cast members were all invited onto the stage after the screening to introduce themselves and what they wanted to say about their films.
Once again, I explained that KINGYO was inspired by the short story of Yasunari Kawabata, 'Canaries', and also featured elements of his novel, 'Snow Country'. I also pointed out that the film has a special place in my heart because it was my first-ever Japanese-language short.
Here's a brief video clip of me inviting KINGYO actress Qyoko Kudo (credited as 'Amane Kudo' in the film) onto the stage as well.
Qyoko, dressed in glorious traditional Japanese garb, gave a brief anecdote of the KINGYO shoot, in which my often boisterous and cheery manner on the set would distract her attempts to get into her (very gloomy and angsty) character. When you don't have a cheerleader on your set, you kinda have to be your own cheerleader, hohoho.
A tough question was asked regarding how filmmakers of digital cinema deal with the rapidly blurring of the line between cinema and television, as the US as been making really cinematic television shows lately, while certain filmmakers would opt for a more TV sitcom-my look for their own films etc. I voiced out my agreement about the blurring of lines, though I never really gave this topic much thought. I added that I was really in service of my story (and prior to that I would decide whether said story was suitable for the medium) and all I think of was just to bring forth my own visual filmmaking skills to serve my story.
With Qyoko outside the hall, after the screening.
I was surprised by the amount of audiences, being a Tuesday morning and all. Mine was the last one to play, so I got to watch the other three short films, which were all really diverse in tone and genres: A fantasy black comedy, a cyberpunk samurai actioner, and a coming-of-age tale. Left the hall when KINGYO started playing, so not entirely sure of its reception.
The filmmakers and cast members were all invited onto the stage after the screening to introduce themselves and what they wanted to say about their films.
Once again, I explained that KINGYO was inspired by the short story of Yasunari Kawabata, 'Canaries', and also featured elements of his novel, 'Snow Country'. I also pointed out that the film has a special place in my heart because it was my first-ever Japanese-language short.
Here's a brief video clip of me inviting KINGYO actress Qyoko Kudo (credited as 'Amane Kudo' in the film) onto the stage as well.
Post by Edmund Yeo.
Qyoko, dressed in glorious traditional Japanese garb, gave a brief anecdote of the KINGYO shoot, in which my often boisterous and cheery manner on the set would distract her attempts to get into her (very gloomy and angsty) character. When you don't have a cheerleader on your set, you kinda have to be your own cheerleader, hohoho.
A tough question was asked regarding how filmmakers of digital cinema deal with the rapidly blurring of the line between cinema and television, as the US as been making really cinematic television shows lately, while certain filmmakers would opt for a more TV sitcom-my look for their own films etc. I voiced out my agreement about the blurring of lines, though I never really gave this topic much thought. I added that I was really in service of my story (and prior to that I would decide whether said story was suitable for the medium) and all I think of was just to bring forth my own visual filmmaking skills to serve my story.
With Qyoko outside the hall, after the screening.
