Producers gathering at the new BABEL LABEL, aiming for world standard planning and development [Director's Interview Vol.215]

Making movies that delve into Japan's unique culture and values

Q: Mr. Maeda, you have worked with foreign directors such as Wong Kar-wai. How do you view their work in relation to the world?

Maeda: At present, I think it is possible to make dramas for overseas audiences. There are platforms for that. So, to what extent can movies be made for overseas audiences? Even with the now mainstream distribution services, major foreign companies have abundant funds and a favorable environment to distribute Japanese dramas, but it is not necessarily true that the works produced in this way are at a global level. Korea has completely taken that lead. For example, even in the American rankings, there are almost always two or three Korean works in the top ten.

In such a situation, should we create a work with a universal theme that anyone can understand, or should we bring in each culture and make it something that makes people think, "What is this?! Interesting?" For example, " Departures " beautifully depicts Japanese culture and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In that way, I feel it is better to dig deep into uniqueness and express it in a movie rather than broadening it. On the other hand, for dramas that are becoming commonplace for overseas distribution, it is better to go all out with a clear theme.

Recently Me-Tele and production company Dub have been working on a project called " (not) HEROINE movies "* (*a series in which both companies aim to make films that weave the realities of life-size women. Upcoming releases include "We Are Adults" and "Unrequited Love of the Nighthawk") and I was worried they had beaten us to it, but I wish they would spend a little more money on advertising things like that. Spending money on something isn't always a good thing, but aren't there quite a few highly original works that leave you wondering when they were released and when they finished? That's a real shame.

This dilemma also exists in film production. Fujii's works can attract investment and gather funding, but future directors will not be able to do that from the beginning. So how do you make it? It's all about time-consuming trial and error. The kids who have seen Fujii say, "I want to do something original," but that's also a very high wall, so I think it's also necessary to collaborate with novels and manga. I hope we can find something that resonates by incorporating diversity well. Hopefully, we can make one streaming drama or movie that will become a hot topic overseas, something that the majors couldn't do, and then we can follow that. That's my goal now.

rising quality standards. Sense of crisis of not being able to survive domestically