Lack of government support for Japanese film could be a good thing, says director Hirokazu Koreeda

Record ID: 103166

  • Title: Lack of government support for Japanese film could be a good thing, says director Hirokazu Koreeda
  • Date: 17th May 2016
  • Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 17, 2016) (REUTERS) DIRECTOR, HIROKAZU KOREEDA, BEING INTERVIEWED CAMERAMAN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) DIRECTOR, HIROKAZU KOREEDA, SAYING: "I agree with what Fukada said. For filmmakers, we find that government support and understanding of cinema is very limited and shallow. But at the same time when I look at the current government in power I wonder, if we did have their total support, whether that would be detrimental to Japanese cinema because they would probably try to use it for national policy and that would be a very unhappy situation for Japanese cinema."
  • Embargoed: 1st June 2016 12:25
  • Keywords: Hiro Kazu Koreeda After the Storm Cannes Un Certain Regard
  • Location: CANNES, FRANCE / UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
  • City: CANNES, FRANCE / UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Film
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014I74FV1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: JAPANESE TRANSLATIONS WERE PROVIDED BY OFFICIAL INTERPRETER ON THE GROUND
    Increased government support for the Japanese film industry would be a double edged sword, veteran Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda told Reuters on Tuesday (May 17), saying he feared any assistance from the current government would go hand in hand with pressure to produce features that echo the party line.
    Koreeda, who is in Cannes with his latest movie 'After the Storm', made the comments after fellow director Koji Fukada cited one of the difficulties facing the Japanese film industry as a lack of state support.
    "I agree with what Fukada said. For filmmakers, we find that government support and understanding of cinema is very limited and shallow. But at the same time when I look at the current government in power I wonder if we did have their total support whether that would be detrimental to Japanese cinema because they would probably try to use it for national policy and that would be a very unhappy situation for Japanese cinema," said Koreeda.
    A Cannes regular, Koreeda's latest film is running in the 'Un Certain Regard' category at the festival. The story revolves around a once prize-winning author, who has failed to produce anything for fifteen years, sliding into gambling and being left by his wife and child.
    "I wanted to portray a character who all his life has been hunched back, but at the very end of the film you see him straightening his back just a little bit, and with this project I wanted to explore how it came to that point. He's a character who has blamed people all his life, spurting excuses as he went along, so I suppose what I wanted to do is to see how authentic I can make this character who is a bit of a looser, who's really not been able to make anything of himself," said Koreeda.
    The story was filmed in the suburb of Tokyo where Koreeda grew up, something he had originally tried to avoid.
    "It was something that I wanted to avoid, but I couldn't obtain permission to shoot in any of the other housing blocks at all. Actually the space was too personal for me and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to create it with a completely objective gaze so it was something that I was trying to avoid but we had to go ahead. But it was also true that when I was writing the screenplay this was the location I had very much in mind, so looking at the film now, what's captured and what I had in mind when creating the story is completely the same, so it all worked out," he said.
    With 'After the Storm' Koreeda is competing in Cannes for the sixth time, having won the Jury Prize in the main competition with 'Like Father, Like Son' in 2013.
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