"Special Screening of Director Kosai Sekine" Film and video are communication tools for deep dialogue with people [Director's Interview Vol.245]

Commercials and music videos overflowing with overwhelming visual sense that you would never think were shot by a Japanese person, the film "Just Being Alive is Love" in which Shuri and Masaki Suda come at you with acting that seems to expose their inner selves, the documentary film "Tower of the Sun" that confronts and confronts Taro Okamoto, and the independent project " VOICE PROJECT: Vote is Your Voice " that encourages thoughts and actions about "voting" through video. The works of filmmaker and film director Kosai Sekine are extremely diverse, and he is a rare presence for a Japanese director. A special screening of Sekine's works is currently being held at Shimokitazawa K2.

As you watch the films being screened this time, you will be amazed at Director Sekine's ability to capture the essence and bring it to light while making the most of visual expression. How does Sekine himself approach images and movies? The interview lasted for over an hour and ended up being a long interview with over 10,000 characters. Please enjoy this together with the special screening.

" Special Screening of Director Kosai Sekine " Films:

“ZENON” (2021/30 minutes)

“Until she wakes up from her dream” (2021/30 minutes)

"Nighthawks in Bangkok" (2012/22 minutes)

“Tailor’s Circus Cut the Fish” (2020/66 minutes)

“Moriyama Mirai Re:Incarnation” (2020/127 minutes)

“ Tower of the Sun ” (2018/112 minutes)

“ Just being alive, love. ” (2018/109 minutes)

" BUNGO ~Modest Desire~'Sushi' " (2012/37 minutes)

Index

• I never thought I wanted to be a director.
• visual secret
• The deciding factor is your personality, attitude, and how you approach yourself.
• It's interesting what comes out of everyone.
• Confront Taro Okamoto
• The power of images
• Communication tools to communicate with people

I never thought I wanted to be a director.

Q: This special screening features eight diverse films, including short films, music videos, and documentaries, regardless of genre or duration.

Sekine: I am extremely honored to have been given this valuable opportunity. I think it's usually done after the number of feature films has increased, so I think it was a little early for me. This time, a new short film ``ZENON'' will also be screened, which was originally the reason for the screening. There aren't many places to show short films, so I'm very grateful that they're putting together a series that also features short films, like in this special feature. Many people who want to make films start with short stories, so I hope this will be a good opportunity for them as well.

Q: I'm glad it's being shown on screen.

Sekine: That's important. This is the first screening of ``ZENON,'' and there are also works that have not been shown in theaters before, such as ``Until She Wakes Up.'' Screening a movie on screen is a completely different experience, so I want to enjoy it myself, and I think it will give me new insights.

Q: Director Sekine started his career with commercials and music videos, but did you intend to start there as a filmmaker?

Sekine: Actually, I wasn't really interested in advertising at first, and I didn't even want to become a director in the first place. When I was in high school, I watched a lot of movies and was impressed that there were people all over the world who were making such amazing movies, but it never occurred to me that I would become a director. . However, on the other hand, I wanted to study film. At university, I majored in philosophy, but when I studied abroad, I studied the basics of television and photography, and started taking photographs with film. I developed the film myself, and that's when I became obsessed with the fun of film. At the time, I was playing like a VJ at clubs and making videos, but I started thinking that I wanted to shoot videos on film as well. So when I decided that I wanted to work in video and learn film photography, the world of commercials came to mind.

At the time, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Jonathan Glazer, and others were filming commercials, and it was quite interesting. Even though it's a commercial, it contains political and ideological content, and it can also be very artistic. It was the first time I realized that advertising was actually so rich. That made me want to become a director myself, and in order to seize that Being There, I made a short film called ``RIGHT PLACE'' (2005). After that work, I started being asked to direct commercials.

visual secret