"Sasaki, In, My Mine" Director Takuya Uchiyama x Gaku Hosokawa I was determined not to run away from entertainment [Director's Interview Vol.96]

Takuya Uchiyama is an up-and-coming film director who has worked on music videos for bands such as King Gnu and advertising videos for Levi's . His latest feature film, ``Sasaki, In, My Mine,'' is based on an episode from the high school days of his close friend Gaku Hosokawa, who starred in his directorial debut, `` Vanitas '' (16). Uchiyama and Hosokawa wrote the screenplay, with Uchiyama directing and Hosokawa playing the title role of Sasaki.

``Sasaki, In, My Mine'' is by no means a stylish video work created by an up-and-coming young artist, but rather a passionate youth film filled with catharsis, created with thorough thought and attention to detail. When asked about the production process of this work, the two young men spoke in clear, calm tones and carefully explained the details.

Index

• The importance of theater and distribution
• Movies with a person's name in the title
• Actor Fujiwara Seasons matched by two people
• Director swimming with actors
• Thoroughly prepared and destroyed on site
• I would be happy if something changes

The importance of theater and distribution

Q: I heard that ``Sasaki, In, My Mine'' started when Mr. Hosokawa approached Director Uchiyama. How did you arrive at the film?

Hosokawa: I had wanted to make a film about a classmate named Sasaki, but I didn't have the skills to direct, so I continued writing the story as a novel. However, at that time, I was feeling stuck as an actor and was thinking about quitting acting.

If Sasaki quits acting and leaves the industry, his story will probably end without being made into a movie. But I thought I would definitely regret it, so I consulted Uchiyama. When I told Uchiyama the contents of the novel I had been writing, he was very amused and said, ``Let me film that!'' That's how it all started.

  Left: Director Takuya Uchiyama Right: Mr. Gaku Hosokawa

Q: The two of you have known each other since director Uchiyama's ``Vanitas''.

Uchiyama: We filmed ``Vanitas'' in 2015, and we've been friends ever since he appeared in that film. Well, since we were of the same generation, we occasionally drank together.

Q: ``Sasaki, In, My Mine'' has Parco as its distributor, but I heard that it originally started out as an independent production.

Uchiyama: Personally, I'll make it because Gaku asked me to. I didn't have any such feelings at all, and I went into this project with determination, so I put all of the experience and skills I had cultivated up to that point into it, and I gave it my all. Although it was an independent production, I wanted it to be seen by a large number of people, so I decided to decide on the theater and distribution that would be the outlet for the work before filming.

First, I approached Shinjuku Musashinokan, where I used to work, to see if they could somehow screen it. To my great gratitude, they agreed to screen the film even though the film had not yet been filmed. Also, one of my mentors in life works at Parco, which distributes movies, and I talked to him about it, and after making a decision based on our enthusiasm and seriousness, as well as the film production system, I decided to work with Parco. We also decided on the distribution before filming.

Movies with a person's name in the title