"Let's make it sound barefoot" Director Riho Kudo wants to continue making adventure films [Director's Interview Vol.229]

The ``PFF (Pia Film Festival) Scholarship'' has sent out outstanding film directors such as Ryosuke Hashiguchi, Fumiyasu Yaguchi, Sang Il Lee, Naoko Ogigami, and Yuya Ishii. From there, new talent took off. Director Riho Kudo's commercial debut film, ``Show Me Barefoot'', which she worked on with a PFF scholarship, has the raw momentum of the initial impulse at its core, but also brilliantly depicts the delicate transitions of emotions. How did director Kudo create this debut film, which has received rave reviews from all walks of life? We spoke to the man himself.

“Show me the sound with bare feet” synopsis

Naoki (Shion Sasaki) works at his father's waste collection company, and Maki (Juri Suwa) lives with his blind adoptive mother Mitori (Jun Fubuki). In order to fulfill Midori's wish to "see the world," the two young men set out on a fake world trip in search of the "sounds of the world" with the recorder they had obtained through salvage. Walking through the Sahara Desert, being hit by Iguazu Falls, and being blown by the wind on the Canadian grasslands, the two are simultaneously drawn to each other, but unable to embrace each other. One day, Naoki, who has developed feelings for Maki, suddenly hits Maki with his fist. As a result, the two find their own love as they struggle to "touch each other"...

Index

• From independent production to professional work
• The last scene as expected
• Changes in emotions shown through movement
• I want to continue making adventure films.

From independent production to professional work

Q: You won the Grand Prix at PFF in September 2018. Were you able to move forward with this project immediately after that in order to obtain a scholarship?

Kudo: That's right. I submitted a plan once at the end of 2018. Although it was a road movie in terms of content, it was a completely different story from today. I didn't really get the hang of it myself, but after rethinking it several times, I finally came up with the story that would form the basis of this movie. The final decision to make the film was made in August 2019.

Q: So the filming took place before the coronavirus?

Kudo: No, from there we continued to revise the script, and we decided to shoot in October 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Q: During the filming, you changed from an independent production site to one with a professional staff and cast, but did you feel any pressure or anxiety?

Kudo: Yes. At first, I thought that I would feel more at ease with the staff of my generation, but at the same time, I also wanted to entrust myself to the experienced staff. So, while we had staff members of the same generation that we trusted to participate, we also gathered veteran people such as Yasuyuki Sasaki, the cinematographer, and Mr. Huang, the sound recorder. There was always pressure and tension.

“Show it with your bare feet” (C) 2021 PFF Partners (Pia, Horipro, Nikkatsu)/PFF General Incorporated Association

Q: Was Mr. Sasaki the cinematographer requested by the director?

Kudo: At first, my line producer Senda-san recommended it to me. I had also seen Sasaki-san's films such as `` Sleeping or Waking '' (2018), so I was wondering if I could ask someone like that to do the film.

Q: The quality of filming for `` Orphan's Blues, '' which was released during the independent production period, was also high.

Kudo: That work was taken by Saki Tanimura, a classmate of mine from university and a friend of mine who has been with me for a long time.

Q: Did you feel any difference in working with veteran staff and cast, compared to the environment in which you were filming with your peers?

Kudo: I've never had someone older than me as the main cast, so this time I learned a lot from everyone. I received advice from Masahiro Komoto and Jun Fubuki regarding the script and how to think about the characters.

The last scene as expected