Yuri Sasamoto is a Japanese director and an artist who has recently directed a short film film about a surviving Japanese public servant who does a routine job and handles contrasting aliens. A peaceful but state-dependent lazy alien on the one hand. A violent alien thinking of plundering on the other. These aliens appear opposite, but both of them may lead to totalitarianism. The same actor acts the two different aliens, but there is a possibility that Chicheians may spy for Fuwari. Actually, Japan is now in a situation of having a potential terror. This movie is a satire production about a totalitarian state in crisis. It is our pleasure to interview Yuri Sasamoto.
What draws you to filmmaking and the cinematic language
I have been writing stories and learning acting since I was little. It was a part of everyday life. I get a lot of inspiration from so many events, societies, people, experiences and history, and then they urge me to create the story.
I am particularly pleased to visualize the story.
I was influenced by Chaplin's movie.
The dictator who was played by Chaplin spoke in a language similar to the German accent in "The Great Dictator".
I felt crisis in international politics, and I made this movie.
Do you believe in film schools or does making a film teach you more than film school?
When my thoughts and ideals express in my movie , I have to learn everything I need to complete a movie.
Making a movie makes me grow up.
If there is a teacher in the school who can see my essence, I think I can grow.
Movies are creatures you can't imagine by studying on the table.
The script may change while making a movie.
What makes cinema stand out more than the arts for you?
The movie has time.
Therefore, you can draw how the picture or the composition changes. God has given the world time and creativity. Making movie is a experience like God is creating this world. The media isn't a movie but a randomly spliced video.
I am not impressed by the stories without following God's golden rule, for example, the law of cause and effect.
Did you choose a certain directing style for making your film based on the script?
Firstly I may not be familiar with a particular director style.
I didn't have a monitor camera.
I am also an actress.While watching the acting of other actors, I sometimes changed the direction.
How did you choose the cast and the crew of your film?
I observe everybody on a daily basis and find the right person for the role of the movie. At the same time as observing people, we sometimes make stories.
When I get contacted the actors who are interested in my movie, I sometimes add them to the movie casting.
How did you fund your film and what were some of the challenges of making this film?
I paid for the movie from my savings.
At first, I came up with one story and decided to write scripts and make a movie.
After that, I gathered a few actors from other films to produce and practice acting with them.
At that time, I should schedule to practice with them. It is very hard.
Do you consider yourself an indie filmmaker and what would most be the most difficult thing about being an independent artist?
Yes, I do.
The most difficult thing is to make money with the movies I made.
What is the distribution plan for your film?
Kick starter.
Online screening
【BIMIFF - Brazil International Monthly Independent Film Festival】
【kalakari film fest】
What is your cinematic goal in life and what would you like to achieve as a filmmaker?
I want to challenge every theme.
Images including mass media are limited in the camera frame.
I want to overcome the limits of that frame.
The truth can be outside the frame.
What kind of impact would your film have in the world and who is your audience?
The theme of this movie is the common one not only in Japan but also in the world.
As Hannah Arendt once pointed out the evils of mediocrity of public servants under Hitler's regime, at present, Japanese public servants also tend to promote evils unconsciously.
Modern people are also passive about information.
If fake news is included in the information, they cannot recognize it.
It's important to think what is right and what is wrong.
I hope my movie will give you an opportunity to think about it.
Many people don’t realize that they take part in totalitarianism unconsciously.