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Kyoto Filmmakers Lab 2018: Report

The Museum of Kyoto March 1, 2019

Kyoto Filmmakers Lab (KFL) 2018 was a development camp for young filmmakers all over the world as well as Japanese (official language was English). The program, called “Hands-on Jidaigeki,” provided the participants with opportunities to make short jidaigeki (samurai period drama) films, using exactly the same facilities such as open sets, props, lights and wardrobes as being used for professional films. In addition, KFL had “Masters Session,” the program collaborated with Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) this year. KFL team invited various lecturers from TIFF guests and juries for the program. From August 13th to September 11th, 213 applicants from 58 countries applied to the workshop through online application. As a result of selection, 40 participants who are directors, producers, scriptwriters, cinematographers and animators and so on from all over the world were selected. There were 15 Japanese participants and 25 foreign participants. There were also 5 foreign participants who live inside of Japan.

<HANDS-ON JIDAIGEKI> The four-day-program of making jidaigeki films which was held from October 27th to 30th at Toei Studios Kyoto, Shochiku Studios and The Museum of Kyoto. The program was held under the supervision of Mr. Kiyoto Ando (lighting professional) and Mr. Satoshi Nagashima (film producer). The participants stayed together at a ryokan (accommodation in Japanese style) in Uzumasa where is close to Toei and Shochiku Studios.

<MASTERS SESSION> The four-day-program held from October 30th to November 2nd, 2018 at The Museum of Kyoto and Kyu Butokuden (Old Kyoto Budo Centre). We had 14 sessions include sword action lecture presented by Toei Tsurugikai. Same as Hands-on Jidaigeki session, the participants stayed together at a ryokan in Uzumasa, Kyoto city.

Host: Kyoto Historica International Film Festival (KHIFF) Committee (Kyoto Prefectural Government, The Museum of Kyoto, Toei Company, Ltd., Shochiku Studio Co., Ltd., Toei Kyoto Studio Co., Ltd., Iwamoto Metal Co., Ltd., Directors’ Univ Co., Ltd. and Ritsumeikan University)

Co-host: Tokyo International Film Festival, Kyoto Cross Media Experience

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Project Entity: Istituto Italiano di Cultura Osaka and Kyoto Crossmedia Promotion Agency

１ Application

Period: August 13th to September 11th, 2018 How to apply: Online application from the website

Number of Applicants: 213 （22 from Japan, 19 from United States, 19 from Nepal, 18 from Philippines, 16 from India, 10 from

Canada, 6 from China, 6 from Bangladesh, 6 from South Africa, 5 from Taiwan (Republic of China), 5 from Pakistan, 4 from Singapore, 4 from Brazil, 4 from Poland, 4 from Malaysia, 3 from Vietnam, 3 from Slovenia, 3 from France, 3 from Hong Kong, 2 from Israel, 2 from Iran, 2 from Estonia, 2 from Austria, 2 from Croatia, 2 from Spain, 2 from Sri Lanka, 2 from Thailand, 2 from Czech, 2 from Chile, 2 from Germany, 2 from Norway, 2 from Panama, 2 from Lithuania, 1 from Ireland, 1 from Argentine, 1 from Armenia, 1 from England, 1 from Ukraine, 1 from Ecuador, 1 from Australia, 1 from Holland, 1 from Ghana, 1 from South Korea, 1 from Greek, 1 from Kyrgyzstan, 1 from Guatemala, 1 from Kosovo, 1 from Tunisia, 1 from Denmark, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Peru, 1 from Portugal, 1 from Myanmar, 1 from Mexico, 1 from Romania, 1 from Rwanda, 1 from Lesotho and 1 from Lebanon）

２ Selection of Participants

Selection date: September 15, 2018 Venue: Conference Room on the 7th floor of The Museum of Kyoto Juries: Mr. Ken Takahashi (Toei Studios Kyoto) and Mr. Satoshi Nagashima (Shochiku Studios) Selected Participants: 40 ・ 25 non-Japanese (5 of them were in Japan) and 15 Japanese ・ Participants’ countries are following: Japan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany,

Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Lithuania, Malaysia, Pakistan, Panama, Poland and South Africa. ・ 25 males and 15 females ・ 4 candidates canceled. ・ Finally we welcomed 36 participants to Kyoto. ・

３ Selection of Participants’ Role and Script Competition for Hands-On Jidaigeki

Selection of Participants’ Role:

Program team decided participants’ role according to participants’ score at the selection and their wish list.

<Hands-on Jidaigeki Toei team> Supervisor: Mr. Kiyoto Ando (Lighting specialist) Participants:

Mr. Saulius Baradinskas (Director, Lithuania), Ms. Colleen Kwok (DP/Camera operator, Hong Kong/United States), Mr. Blake Mawson (Assistant director, Canada), Ms. Miwa Okamura (Assistant director, Japan), Mr. Yoshiyuki Itakura (Art director, Japan), Mr. Tokoloho Masemene (Sound recordist, South Africa), Mr. Ken Sasaki (Gaffer, Japan) and Mr. Ryo Hasegawa (Production manager, Japan)

<Hands-on Jidaigeki Shochiku team>

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Supervisor: Mr. Satoshi Nagashima (Producer) Participants:

Ms. Nikol Cibulya (Director, Hungary), Mr. Tomás Cortés-Rosselot (DP/Camera operator, Panama), Mr. Timothy Yeung (Assistant DP, Canada), Mr. Keisuke Sakuma (Assistant director, Japan), Ms. Milda Baginskaité (Art director, Lithuania/United Kingdom), Mr. Sergei Vlasov (Sound recordist, Israel/Japan), Mr. Ramanuj Dutta (Gaffer, India), Mr. Farhani Schabbi (Production manager, France/Japan), Mr. Abdar Rahman (Production manager, Bangladesh/Japan) and Mr. Kazuki Aizawa (Production manager, Japan)

<Masters Session> Participants:

Mr. Bilal Kawazoe (Japan), Ms. Tze Ki Ho (Hong Kong), Ms. Keito Kosaka (Japan), Ms. Yve Vonn Lee (Malaysia), Ms. Gabriela Lie Yoshimo Cruz (Brazil/Japan), Ms. Xiaokao Liu (China), Ms. Misaki Matsui (Japan), Ms. Saki Mitake (Japan), Mr. Alizeb Raees (Pakistan), Mr. Chetan Raghuram (India), Mr. Krzysztof Rudz (Poland/Japan), Mr. Riku Saito (Japan), Ms. Palesa Shongwe (South Africa), Mr. Kamil Skałkowski (Poland), Mr. Soni Takeura (Japan), Mr. Christoph Walter (Germany), Ms. Hikaru Yoshida (Japan) and Ms. Noriko Yuasa (Japan)

Script competition for Hands-on Jidaigeki: Calling for scripts for Hands-on Jidaigeki was open to the participants. The Scripts had to be 3 minutes in length. 6 scripts were submitted, and under considerations of location and availability of actors, 2 scripts described below were selected by program team.

Toei team: KURUSHIMI written by Mr. Tokoloho Masemene Shochiku team: Mukaebi No Ato written by Mr. Kazuki Aizawa

４ Program Schedule ■HANDS-ON JIDAIGEKI

<October 27th, Saturday> Venue: The Museum of Kyoto (Film theatre and Annex Hall) 13:45〜15:30 【1】VR observation (including the viewing of Chromatica, specially selected from Biennale College

Cinema directed by Mr. Flavio Costa) at Kyoto HISTORICA International Film Festival (KHIFF) * 19 participants from 12 countries

15:40〜17:29

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【2】Screening of The Mad Fox (directed by Tom Uchida, 4K restored version) at KHIFF * 19

participants from 12 countries

17:40〜18:30 【3】Attending the opening ceremony of KHIFF (including the guest talk by Senjaku Nakamura III)

* 19 participants from 12 countries * Talk Guest: Mr. Senjaku Nakamura III (Kabuki player)

<October 28th, Sunday> Venues: Toei Studios Kyoto and Shochiku Studios 10:00〜 【4】Orientation * 19 participants from 12 countries

10:30〜 【5】Pre Production Meeting

* 19 participants from 12 countries

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<October 29th & 30th, Monday & Tuesday> Venues: Toei Studios Kyoto and Shochiku Studios 8:00〜18:00 【6】Shooting

* 19 participants from 12 countries

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■MASTERS SESSION <October 31st, Wednesday> Venues: Toei Studios Kyoto and Shochiku Studios 14:00〜 【1】Studio Tour * 45 participants from 17 countries

<November 1st, Thursday> Venue: The Museum of Kyoto, Annex Hall 10:30〜11:00 【2】Rush Screening of Hands-on Jidaigeki team’s work * 55 participants from 17 countries

11:30〜12:30 【3】Filmmaker Lightning Talk 1

3-minute presentation by KFL participants; they talked about their projects and dreams. * 45 participants from 17 countries

13:30〜15:00 【4】Filmmaker Lightning Talk 2 <Same as above. * 45 participants from 17 countries>

15:15〜16:30 【5】Come Back Salmon Talk

A Participant of past KFL talked about their careers and future. *43 participants from 17 countries

Lecturer: Yusuke Kinoshita (Film Director) Born 31st July 1981. Graduate of the Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University. His student film Bird Cage, which he directed, wrote, shot and edited, received the Runner-up Award and Audience Award at the 2003 Pia Film Festival (PFF). He was granted the PFF scholarship to film his first feature film Water Flower, which was presented at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2006. In 2013, he created the short film NOTHING UNUSUAL. His feature film Synchronicity (working title), currently in development, received special mention in TALENTS TOKYO (Tokyo Filmex). He participated in KFL in 2016.

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17:00〜18:30 【6】Biennale College Cinema Talk A Talk about Biennale College Cinema, the development program for young filmmakers held by La Biennale di Venezia. *57 participants from 17 countries

Lecturer: Ms. Valentina Vellomo (Curator, Biennale College Cinema) Ms. Vellomo has built her experience for almost a decade working in different departments for music festivals, feature films, TV series and commercials; Since 2013 she’s dedicated to the coordination of the activities of Biennale College - Cinema and Biennale College - Cinema Virtual Reality, the advanced training programs realized by La Biennale di Venezia. She follows all the phases: from the launch of the international calls to the presentation of the supported features and VR projects at the Venice International Film Festival.

19:00〜20:30 【7】Italian Night A party held by the courtesy of Istituto Italiano di Cultura - Osaka. * 65 participants from 18 countries

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<November 1st, Thursday> Venues: The Museum of Kyoto, Annex Hall (except mentioned) and Kyu Butoku Den/Old Kyoto Budo Center 10:30〜12:00 【8】TIFF Seminar Lecture on the film production situation for young filmmakers in America and Italy as well as expert advice to young filmmakers from a viewpoint of a film festival curator. * 55 participants from 18 countries

Lecturer: Mr. Paolo Bertolin (Film festival programmer, Directors' Fortnight de Cannes) Mr. Bertolin is a festival programmer, film writer and producer. He recently joined the selection committee of Directors' Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival. For ten years he served as selector and regional consultant for Venice Film Festival. Paolo’s production credits include Berlinale Competition films Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories and A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery.

Lecturer: Mr. Noah Cowan (SFFILM, Executive Director) Mr. Cowan has been Executive Director of SFFILM since 2014. Under his leadership, the organization has significantly expanded the scope of its annual film festival, the breadth of its year-round film exhibition programs, and the reach of its artist development initiatives. He joined SFFILM following roles as Artistic Director of TIFF Bell Lightbox and Co-Director of the Toronto International Film Festival.

13:00〜14:30 【9】Masters Talk

Lecture on the situation for independent filmmaking in Japan as well as expert advice to young filmmakers from a viewpoint of a film director.

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Lecturer: Mr. Atsushi Funahashi Mr. Funahashi learned film production in New York after graduating from Tokyo University. He directs wide variety of movies, from narrative films such as Echos (2001) and Cold Bloom (2012), to documentary films such as Nuclear Nation (2012). In 2018, He directed a Japan-US-Portugal co-produced film. The film, Lovers on Borders, was released in Japan on November 2018.

15:00〜16:30 Venue: Kyu Butokuden/Old Kyoto Budo Center 【10】Sword Fighting Lecture

Lecture and demonstration on spirit and style of Kyoto's sword fighting. *37 participants from 17 countries

Lecturer: Mr. Kazuto Seike and the members of Toei Tsurugikai

<November 2nd, Friday> Venue: The Museum of Kyoto (Annex Hall and Film Theatre)

13:00〜14:30 Venue: The Museum of Kyoto, Annex Hall 【11】Masters Talk

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Lecture on the situation of Japan and its film in the international film market. * 40 participants from 18 countries

Lecturer: Ms. Georgina Pope (Film producer) Ms. Pope established Twenty First City Inc. in 1991. It is Tokyo’s leading boutique production service firm supporting overseas producers in Japan. Georgina also develops and produces. Most recently she teamed up with Ridley Scott and Scott Free to produce Earthquake Bird, a mystery thriller set in Tokyo. It is currently in post-production and stars Oscar winner Alicia Vikander. The film will be released globally in 2019.

15:00〜16:30 Venue: The Museum of Kyoto, Annex Hall 【12】Masters Talk

Lecture on the situation of Japan and its film in the international film market. * 40 participants from 18 countries

Lecturer: Mr. Gu Xiaodong (Film producer) On 1967, Mr. Xiaodong was born in a show-business family in Shanghai. His parents are both actors/stage directors. In 1988, he started studying abroad in Japan. He graduated from Nihon Eiga Gakko established by Shohei Imamura. After returning Shanghai, he started producing movies between Japan and China.

17:00〜18:00 Venue: The Museum of Kyoto, Annex Hall 【13】Masters Talk

Mr. Isshin Inudo, film director known for Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, talked about his career and the attractiveness of Tadashi Sawashima’s films which KFL participants saw at the next session. *37 participants from 17 countries

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Lecturer: Mr. Isshin Inudo (Film director) Mr. Inudo starts directing and producing independent films during high school; after university he undertakes and directs television commercials to win numerous awards. His first feature film Two People Talking (1997) won the New Directors Award of the Directors Guild of Japan. He makes his first big step into the film industry with the screenplay for Jun Ichikawa's Osaka Story in 1998. 2003, Josee, the Tiger and the Fish won him the 54th Minister of Education New Face Award for Art, and the 56th Minister of Education award for La Maison de Himiko. Following films Touch (2005), Yellow Tears (2007), Bizan ('07) and Gu Gu the Cat (2008), he is awarded Picture of the Year, Director of the Year and Screenplay of the Year at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize for Zero Focus (2009), and Picture of the Year and Director of the Year for The Floating Castle (2012) at the 36th Japan Academy Prize. His latest film is The Cat in His Arms (2018), and Hikkoshi Daimyo is to be released in 2019.

18:30〜20:30 Venue: The Museum of Kyoto, Film Theatre 【14】”Talk Battle” on Tadashi Sawashima

Free discussion on Tadashi Sawashima’s direction after watching his The Travel of Hibari and Chiemi (1962). *37 participants from 17 countries

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Lecturer: Isshin Inudo (film director) , Milkman Saito (film critic)

Milkman Saito (film critic) Born in Kyoto in 1963. He is a leading film critic who reevaluate Japanese Modernist filmmakers who were active in 1950s and 60s, including Kon Ichikawa, Ko Nakahira, Yasuzo Masumura, Tadashi Sawashima and Seijun Suzuki. As well as contributing articles, he participates in many talk shows.