WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:10.519
Old ears, folks. It's show
people pay good money to see this movie.

2
00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.080
When they go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, hot

3
00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:18.839
popcorn, and no monsters in the
projection booth. Everyone for ten podcasting isn't

4
00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:45.920
borings like cord. She will get
up a pendor domain. She hadn't produced

5
00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:51.719
put on kill an Uncle? You
did? I get funny West See when

6
00:00:51.759 --> 00:01:04.480
you moutimated Cocomen talk about it's so
good when you're Indian. My source,

7
00:01:15.640 --> 00:02:30.960
you re union, you do start, you stump among its Demimus. Welcome

8
00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.199
to the projection Booth. I'm your
host, Mike White. On this special

9
00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:38.120
episode, I'm speaking with Chia Hayakawa, the director of the twenty twenty two

10
00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:42.599
film Planned seventy five. It's a
slightly sci fi look at Japan in ten

11
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.159
years and how they handled the elderly. It's a great film, and miss

12
00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:49.759
Hyakawa was great to talk to.
I hope you enjoyed the interview. She

13
00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:53.280
e before we even start to talk
about Playing seventy five, can you tell

14
00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:57.080
me how you got into filmmaking.
I wanted to become a filmmaker, sins.

15
00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:01.120
I was like thirteen years old.
It was quite our but after graduating

16
00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:07.960
high school, I went to New
York studying photography at SVA Schools of Visual

17
00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:13.120
Arts. And after spending ten years
in New York, I came back to

18
00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:19.039
Tokyo and worked for the film department
of Japanese Satellite Television. But I was

19
00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:23.319
doing an administrative job. It's not
the creative job at the time, so

20
00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:30.759
I decided to go to one year
program like film school. My piece is

21
00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:36.840
short film. I told Nayagara,
what got into Cinefondation camp from festival.

22
00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:42.080
It's a kind of student section that
kind of opening up the door to film

23
00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:47.479
industry and I started me I get
to know more people like producers and also

24
00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:53.319
started to participate in various people making
workshops. Then I had a chance to

25
00:03:53.879 --> 00:04:00.520
direct one of the segments Obtaining in
Japan. It's a collection of five films

26
00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:04.479
Tective produced by hirokas Greda, and
it was my first time to work with

27
00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:12.080
professional stuff. And then film got
theatrical release in Japan and some other countries.

28
00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:18.079
That's how I started my directing career. But I still had working for

29
00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:24.560
that TV company at the time,
so I quit my daytime job and decided

30
00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:29.720
to become a full time director.
Then it was twenty eighteen, and I

31
00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:34.720
took another four years before I could
make my first future then Platenti five.

32
00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:40.360
Where did the idea for the short
version of point seventy five come from?

33
00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:46.199
Already had that concept before Ten Year
Japan. I was thinking to make it

34
00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:50.120
in future film, but at the
time I don't know anyone who can work

35
00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:55.480
with me as a producer. I
got to know about ten Year Japan project.

36
00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:00.759
It was a closed competition for young
film ojectors and one of the producers

37
00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:04.920
of the film Recommissional Gray. She
asked me if I'm interested in applying it.

38
00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:12.000
The film is about Japan in ten
years in future, so I thought

39
00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.399
Plassy five is a good fit to
that concept. So I decided to make

40
00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:23.319
a short version first as a kind
of pilot film. How did you go

41
00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:27.800
from that shorter version to the longer
version. Sounds like you've already had the

42
00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:33.240
longer version in mind. I initially
thought about future length story with five main

43
00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:38.759
characters. When I made a short
version, I focused on only one character.

44
00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:43.360
Then, you know, after making
a short version, I went back

45
00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:47.040
to develop the story in a full
length with these five people. But pipe

46
00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:51.319
people is still too macne, I
thought, so I narrowed out to like

47
00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:56.560
three main characters, which is Michi, the old lady, and also she

48
00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:00.680
removed the fells persion of the plastic
five and Maria who is working for the

49
00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:06.519
facility from you know. In future
length format, I could depict more characters

50
00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:14.879
from different backgrounds and dig deeper into
characters you know, emotional and reveal the

51
00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.160
reality and detail more detail of system
of class sectify. In short film,

52
00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:24.480
I tend to focus on the impact
of the story and the concept what plus

53
00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:31.920
set five and I chose a dark
ending to fu well audiences anxiety and asking

54
00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:39.759
like do you really order to lead
the society like this? However, while

55
00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:46.720
developing the script of future version,
I was the COVID pandemic happened, and

56
00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:51.639
I was so devastated. I started
thinking that I should present a kind of

57
00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:59.560
hope in this field. Nobody wants
to watch depressing film because our reality is

58
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:04.879
already pressing. I didn't want to
make people uneasy with already being depressed in

59
00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:12.560
real life, so I changed some
of the characters settings and also changed the

60
00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:18.480
engine. Why seventy five, why
that particular number in Japan the government called

61
00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:23.480
people is over seventy five. I
don't know what to say. It an

62
00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:30.160
issues like late term elderly people.
It's a kind of special term they called

63
00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:35.600
them. Then when they created that
term, I felt so bad. I

64
00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:43.279
was not comfortable to use that words
like later term book the elderly people.

65
00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:47.279
It sounds like these people is you
know, in the last very that stage

66
00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:54.639
of the dead life. So I
really don't like that term. And I'm

67
00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:00.120
then they you know, toast the
line by their age. So seven de

68
00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:07.920
five is a set our government decided
to make the border between all these stations

69
00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:16.040
elderly and other younger people and overstivity
five you see later stage. So I

70
00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:22.240
spot if they make plant system like
this, the definitive will use seventy five

71
00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:28.759
as an age. And to plant, the term of plants sounds like an

72
00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:33.720
insurance plant. It gives you the
impression that easy to use, that convenient

73
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:39.039
is very some kind of like insurance
plant, so very cultural sounds. So

74
00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:43.879
that's why I use that term the
name, the name make plant seventy five.

75
00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:48.919
I was curious because I know retirement
age here in the US is like

76
00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:52.480
sixty seven now I think it is, and I know there's the fight in

77
00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:58.120
France to try to keep it at
sixty two, or they might be trying

78
00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.879
to move it to sixty two,
which is bad. So I was just

79
00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:05.639
curious because there's not that many years
between sixty seven and seventy five. So

80
00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.679
I was curious as far as how
the elderly are looked at and treated in

81
00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:16.840
Japan. Echiston is existing in society
also the media, television and the media.

82
00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:26.399
Few will be people pushed anxiety to
becoming old. We might those helps,

83
00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:31.840
we might kids see and we might
be called dements here. If we

84
00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:37.519
don't have family, we might have
to die at home at all and nobody

85
00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.440
will find us something like that.
You know, there's so many like anxiety

86
00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:46.919
and fear we have about being old. Is. I think it's kind of

87
00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:54.320
national for fear for Japanese to becoming
involved like back then, like when I

88
00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.120
was a child, being old is. You know, it's a good thing.

89
00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:01.720
We are thinking. It was thought
that it think to live longer,

90
00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.000
and we respect the elderly. We
have respected the elderly, but now a

91
00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:15.240
lot of people think that elderly people
or could be a burden to society and

92
00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:20.360
elderly people themselves, they feel themselves
that they are burdened. They could be

93
00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:28.159
imbordened to society or a family,
so they wanted to die before they become

94
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:33.000
burdened to anyone. So that kind
of thinking, if you know, becoming

95
00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:41.360
more than all this, Now,
that's that's why if we have if government

96
00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:46.759
made the plans centified a a lot
of people will accept it, will agreed.

97
00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.240
In fact, after release from this
film, and there's so many people

98
00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:54.159
said, we want this system,
we want this option. Yeah, so

99
00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:01.720
many people yeah said that if understandable, not because they want to get rid

100
00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:07.000
of the elderly, but they won't
have that option for themselves because there were

101
00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:11.960
so much they worry so much about
being old is assisted? Two side is

102
00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:18.279
illegal in Japan, it's not allowed
illegal, but not More and more people

103
00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:24.320
discussed about they want to have assistance, especially when they get older. As

104
00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:30.519
you can tell that this film is
not like pro or con us an issue.

105
00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.399
I didn't want to a judgmental too
about that issue, and also I

106
00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:41.759
don't I didn't want to blame the
people who take the choice. To avoid

107
00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:48.039
the judgmental attitude. I think I
took the kind of a documentary approach,

108
00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:56.240
just observing what's happening in the society, and I wanted to leave that audience

109
00:11:56.360 --> 00:12:01.039
how they feel, how they react
to that situation. Can you tell me

110
00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:05.600
about your co writer Jason Gray.
Jason he is a partner of Eco Miss

111
00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:13.320
Greshi also developed producers of Plasti five
and basically he gave me an advisis on

112
00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:22.399
structure and analytical feedback throughout the process
of writing. And he has a good

113
00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:28.399
eye on how to build a structure
and emotional art openly characters. So he

114
00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:33.600
helped me find a kind of premise
of this film. And Jason an Eco

115
00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:39.960
enemy like three of us working to
develop the script for about four years.

116
00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:45.120
And it sounds like you did that
a lotter in the pandemic we studied.

117
00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:52.240
Actually the nineteen twenty nineteen is right
before pandemic happened. Then it went to

118
00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:58.360
all the pandemic years, so that
experience changed a lot. We're in the

119
00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:03.200
writing the story, the direction of
the film. Me tell me about your

120
00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:09.639
cast. They seem amazing. Cha
Kobaye Show who played the protagonist. She

121
00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:18.559
is um legendary actress and singer in
Japan, and it's it's kind of rare

122
00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:24.360
that you know that famous actress played
working for you. A first time take

123
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:31.679
to like me, and she's been
working for mostly like studio or films for

124
00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:37.600
many years, so it was almost
like a miracle for me that she accepts

125
00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:43.799
this role, but and working with
her was really amazing experience for me that

126
00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:50.679
I was struck with wonder when I
watched her performance during the shoot. Her

127
00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.399
presence and also her presence broadened the
range of audience. So the film was

128
00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:01.279
a splash hit at the box office
in Japan. It was a smash in

129
00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:03.679
Japan, and I know it's a
ton of awards as well. It must

130
00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:09.679
have felt great to have your first
film reach that acclaim one year ago proven

131
00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:16.559
now, I was still in the
studio finishing the film and I didn't imagine

132
00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:22.399
this would have happened at the time, So I was so happy and really

133
00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:28.480
appreciate all the people who made this
film together with me. This success was

134
00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:35.320
brought by collective intelligence to all the
cast members and staff members. Because filmmaking,

135
00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.559
I can't do it al alone,
so I truly appreciate it. And

136
00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:48.120
also this success, I believe that
will help me to next film and very

137
00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:52.320
happy about it. What were some
of the biggest challenges making your first film?

138
00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:56.639
Now, I went to film school
only one year and I heard only

139
00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:03.399
like basic talis that've never worked in
on set for other directors. So I

140
00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:09.440
had almost like no experience that I
didn't really know what exactly in directed to

141
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:16.279
on set, how to direct when, in what timing to give the direction

142
00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:20.600
to actors. I don't I didn't
lose the you know, the process,

143
00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:28.360
and so it took some days till
I get used to that environment. But

144
00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.679
everybody knows I'm the first time director, so they tried to help me,

145
00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:37.600
and they tried to teach me what
to do, and also they gave me

146
00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:43.039
a lot of idea in so in
fact, I think it was good that

147
00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:52.039
there was a mood that everyone can
speak their idea fleely and be more creative.

148
00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:54.320
So I think it was good for
the film. I know a lot

149
00:15:54.399 --> 00:16:00.440
of first time directors did a lot
of help and guide from their cinematographer.

150
00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:07.000
Who was your cinematographer on less The
photographer is Sideh Rata. He the Japanese

151
00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:15.159
based in Singapore and he is working
for many first time directors in Singapore and

152
00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:19.799
other countries. So I can say
that he's a mentor of five sharroommaking is

153
00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:25.200
so helpful but he is not.
It's not the person who tried to control

154
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:30.360
the director, but that he really
had the president. He tried to understand

155
00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:33.559
what I really wanted to do.
I wanted to do. She was really

156
00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:37.960
great cinematographer and also great mentor.
Probably that was very lucky to work with

157
00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:41.000
him. What was some of the
best things you remember about working on the

158
00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:47.600
film? We feel the last see
that Michie Lutine has said, it's very

159
00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:52.440
It was cloudy the mooding. We
worried that we might not be able to

160
00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:56.240
film the sunset on the day,
and there was no extra day to shoot

161
00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:00.799
because we are working on type basset. We didn't have extra film with date.

162
00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:07.880
And then when we finished at me
She's Apartment seen in the afternoon,

163
00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:14.200
it headed to the location to film
the night to see it was still cloudy,

164
00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:18.599
no sound at all, but like
thirty minutes before we arrived, the

165
00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:25.839
clouds started to clear away slowly,
but do we still have nice clouds around

166
00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:30.799
so we could get perfect sunset.
You know, the sky was perfect.

167
00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:37.960
Jecoby Sho's performance was perfect. She
was perfect. So we all surrounded Jecoby

168
00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:45.000
Shoes from her like listening to her
song and it was like miraculous moment and

169
00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:49.799
I will never forget any We don't
have any cloud at all. It looks

170
00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:55.559
totally different. So we felt if
that, yeah, there is a miracle

171
00:17:56.119 --> 00:18:00.000
happened on that day. What was
it like going to count with Of course

172
00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:06.720
it was racing. Like my first
festival experience was Can when I was you

173
00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:10.799
know, stud's not exactly studio,
but when I went to student section,

174
00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:15.720
but it was A two fourteen,
so it's about eight years ago, and

175
00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:22.359
that's where I met a producer Eco
in that year and she was working for

176
00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:27.440
another film, but I met her
in that Can in Choos out of fourteen.

177
00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:33.200
But after eight years I made my
future film with her and we all

178
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:38.720
went back to the same festival.
So it was a pretty nice experience.

179
00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:45.039
And also this film was made.
It was an international co production of Japan,

180
00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:51.319
France and Philippine but we never be
able to get together in Purse because

181
00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:56.200
of the COVID. We always talk
on like over to. It was the

182
00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:02.519
first time in Can where we all
get together and see it person five.

183
00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:07.599
So your is a really really amazing
time. What are you working on now?

184
00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:12.079
What's next for you? Because so
simply five it very you know socially

185
00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:17.920
social issue. They ended them,
so I wanted to totally different things.

186
00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:23.319
Next, I wanted to make more
like personal story based on my childhood.

187
00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:29.839
It's gonna be about a Penish girl
who face up, faces up to dying

188
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.880
father. It's all inspite my childhood
exchange. Thank you so much for your

189
00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.440
time today. I really appreciate this
and I wish you the best of luck

190
00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:41.799
in your future endeavors it. Thank
you very much. And joining about,

191
00:19:42.119 --> 00:20:25.200
Thank you so much, and and
and the