Process Book
Director Shunji Iawi
Shunji Iwai is a Japanese film director, video artist, writer and documentary maker. Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment industry by directing TV dramas and music videos. Then, in 1993, his TV drama, Fireworks, brought him critical praise and the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his portrayal of a group of children in the town of Iioka. In 1995 he went on to start his career in feature films, starting with the box-office hit Love Letter, in which he cast pop singer Miho Nakayama in dual roles. Love Letter also launched the movie career of Miki Sakai who won a Japanese Academy Award as ‘Newcomer of the Year’ for her portrayal of Itsuki Fujii as a young girl. Iwai collaborated with cinematographer Noboru Shinoda to produce a film praised for its evocative winter cinematography. Love Letter made an impact in other east Asian countries too, notably South Korea where the film’s success helped break down the post-World War II barriers to Japanese films being shown there. In 1996 came the commercial and critical success of Swallowtail Butterfly, a multifaceted story of the fictional Yen Town, a city of immigrants in search of hope and a better life with three separate and distinct main characters. Ageha (Ayumi Ito), an orphaned teenage girl, Glico (Chara), a prostitute turned pop star, and Feihong (Hiroshi Mikami), an immigrant who manages Glico’s career and owns the Yen Town club. He also wrote the lyrics of a theme song for the film Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta) with Chara and Takeshi Kobayashi. In 1998, Fine Line Features released Love Letter in the United States theatrically under the new title When I Close My Eyes; it was the first Iwai-directed film to be released in the United States theatrically.
uccess with this film as well, having teamed up with Takeshi Kobayashi to create the music for the film and the Yen Town Band, headed by Pop star Chara. The band they created became a commercial hit in Japan. He would team up with Kobayashi again in 2001 for the harrowing High School Drama All About Lily Chou-Chou. Kobayashi would create the music for the titular pop star, Lily Chou-Chou (voiced by Japanese singer Salyu), that is spread through the film (as well as Debussy), and later be released as an album entitled Kokyu (Breathe). In 2002 he released a short, ARITA, in which he composed his own film score for the first time. In 2004 Iwai released Hana & Alice, his first comedy. He once again composed the film score himself. He has recently directed a commercial airing in Japan featuring Matsu Takako, whom he has not worked with since 1998. October 2006 sees the Iwai produced film Rainbow Song released in Japan. The film is directed by Naoto Kumazawa and was written by Ami Sakurai. It stars previous Iwai actors Hayato Ichihara, Yu Aoi and Shoko Aida. Also in 2006, Iwai spent time documenting and interviewing Kon Ichikawa while filming The Inugamis (Inugamike no ichizoku - 2006) to create a feature-length documentary about the director’s life. A more recent project, a piece he wrote about the Japanese indie rock scene in the early 1990s called Bandage, was released on January 16, 2010. Apart from being in charge of the music production, “Bandage” represents Takeshi Kobayashi’s first time as a movie director. The project was originally taken by Ryuhei Kitamura, but was dropped in 2006. The filming started in 2008 and Kobayashi chose a completely different cast for the movie, casting j-pop singer Jin Akanishi and Kie Kitano for the main roles. It also included other actors who have worked with Iwai before, such as Ayumi Ito and Hideyuki Kasahara. The release of the horror film Vampire marked his English-language film debut.
Director Bio
Shunji Iawi Love Letter
1995
Hiroko Watanabe’s fiancé Itsuki died two years earlier in a mountain climbing accident. While looking through his high school yearbook, Hiroko in a fit of grief decides to write a letter to him using his old school address. Surprisingly she receives a reply, not from the dead Itsuki, but from a woman with the same name whom had known Hiroko’s fiancé in school. A relationship develops between the two women as they continue to exchange letters and share memories of the dead Itsuki. The love story is very culturally Japanese (modern), with the natural reactions of the characters representing very accurately current gender roles and attitudes in Japan. I believe however the story’s beauty can be easily appreciated worldwide.
Shunji Iwai Film Festival
Why I choose Him This movie is about the memory of green. The most pure love is before we know about it. Because we even do not know what love is, the feeling is strongest. As a girl, I think everyone has a first love when they were young. I like his story and style. Watching this film touches me, and it makes me remember my first love.
Movies Hana & Alice All About Lily Chou-Chou Undo
Director Billy Wilder
22 June 1906, Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Sucha Beskidzka, Malopolskie, Poland] Originally planning to become a lawyer, Billy Wilder abandoned that career in favor of working as a reporter for a Viennese newspaper, using this experience to move to Berlin, where he worked for the city’s largest tabloid. He broke into films as a screenwriter in 1929, and wrote scripts for many German films until Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. Wilder immediately realized his Jewish ancestry would cause problems, so he emigrated to Paris, then the US. Although he spoke no English when he arrived in Hollywood, Wilder was a fast learner, and thanks to contacts such as Peter Lorre (with whom he shared an apartment), he was able to break into American films. His partnership with Charles Brackett started in 1938 and the team was responsible for writing some of Hollywood’s classic comedies, including Ninotchka (1939) and Ball of Fire (1941). The partnership expanded into a producer-director one in 1942, with Brackett producing, and the two turned out such classics as Five Graves to Cairo (1943), The Lost Weekend (1945) (Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay) and Sunset Blvd. (1950) (Oscars for Best Screenplay), after which the partnership dissolved. (Wilder had already made one film, Double Indemnity (1944) without Brackett, as the latter had refused to work on a film he felt dealt with such disreputable characters.) Wilder’s subsequent self-produced films would become more caustic and cynical, notably Ace in the Hole (1951), though he also produced such sublime comedies as Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment(1960) (which won him Best Picture and Director Oscars). He retired in 1981.
Billy Wilder The Seven Year Itch
1995
Hiroko Watanabe’s fiancé Itsuki died two years earlier in a mountain climbing accident. While looking through his high school yearbook, Hiroko in a fit of grief decides to write a letter to him using his old school address. Surprisingly she receives a reply, not from the dead Itsuki, but from a woman with the same name whom had known Hiroko’s fiancé in school. A relationship develops between the two women as they continue to exchange letters and share memories of the dead Itsuki. The love story is very culturally Japanese (modern), with the natural reactions of the characters representing very accurately current gender roles and attitudes in Japan. I believe however the story’s beauty can be easily appreciated worldwide.
Why I choose Him This movie is funny and the director use exaggeration way to show our normal daily life. This movie influences me a lot. This movie like a mirror, I can see myself. Whatever who you are, when you see his movie, you will find one piece of yourself.
Movies Some Like It Hot The Apartment One, Two, Three Sunset Blvd.
Director Jane Campion
Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and now lives in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Having graduated with a BA in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, and a BA, with a painting major, at Sydney College of the Arts in 1979, she began filmmaking in the early 1980s, attending the Australian School of Film and Television. Her first short film, Peel (1982) won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986. Her other short films include Passionless Moments (1983), A Girl’s Own Story (1984), 0086858 and the telefeature _2 Friends (1986) (TV)_, all of which won Australian and international awards. She co-wrote and directed her first feature film, Sweetie (1989), which won the Georges Sadoul prize in 1989 for Best Foreign Film, as well as the LA Film Critics’ New Generation Award in 1990, the American Independant Spirit Award for Best Foreign Feature, and the Australian Critics’ Award for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress. She followed this with An Angel At My Table (1990), a dramatization based on the autobiographies of Janet Frame which won some seven prizes, including the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1990. It was also awarded prizes at the Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals, again winning the American Independent Spirit Award, and was voted the most popular film at the 1990 Sydney Film Festival. The Piano (1993) won the Palme D’Or at Cannes, making her the first woman ever to win the prestigious award. She also captured an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 1993 Oscars, while also being nominated for Best Director.
Jane Campin The Piano
1993
t is the mid-nineteenth century. Ada is a mute who has a young daughter, Flora. In an arranged marriage she leaves her native Scotland accompanied by her daughter and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand’s North Island is not all she may have imagined and nor is her relationship with her new husband Stewart. She suffers torment and loss when Stewart sells her piano to a neighbor, George. Ada learns from George that she may earn back her piano by giving him piano lessons, but only with certain other conditions attached. At first Ada despises George but slowly their relationship is transformed and this propels them into a dire situation.
Why I choose Her It tells a story of love and fierce pride, and places it on a bleak New Zealand coast where people live rudely in the rain and mud, struggling to maintain the appearance of the European society they’ve left behind. It is a story of shyness, repression and loneliness; of a woman who will not speak and a man who cannot listen, and of a willful little girl who causes mischief and pretends she didn’t mean to. This movie makes me to think about women identity and sexual desire.
Movies An Angel at My Table The Portrait of Lady In the Cut
Moodboard Shunji Iawi Hiroko Watanabe’s fiancé Itsuki died two years earlier in a mountain climbing accident. While looking through his high school yearbook, Hiroko in a fit of grief decides to write a letter to him using his old school address. Surprisingly she receives a reply, not from the dead Itsuki, but from a woman with the same name whom had known Hiroko’s fiancé in school. A relationship develops between the two women as they continue to exchange letters and share memories of the dead Itsuki. The love story is very culturally Japanese (modern), with the natural reactions of the characters representing very accurately current gender roles and attitudes in Japan. I believe however the story’s beauty can be easily appreciated worldwide.
19
Moodboard Billy Wilder With his family away for their annual summer holiday, New Yorker Richard Sherman decides he has the opportunity to live a bachelor’s life - to eat and drink what he wants and basically to enjoy life without wife and son. The beautiful but ditsy blond from the apartment above his catches his eye and they soon start spending time together. It’s all innocent though there is little doubt that Sherman is attracted to her. Any lust he may be feeling is played out in his own imagination however
Moodboard Jane Campin It is the mid-nineteenth century. Ada is a mute who has a young daughter, Flora. In an arranged marriage she leaves her native Scotland accompanied by her daughter and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand’s North Island is not all she may have imagined and nor is her relationship with her new husband Stewart. She suffers torment and loss when Stewart sells her piano to a neighbor, George. Ada learns from George that she may earn back her piano by giving him piano lessons, but only with certain other conditions attached. At first Ada despises George but slowly their relationship is transformed and this propels them into a dire situation.
Design Brief hunji Iwai is a Japanese film director, video artist, and writer and documentary maker. Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment industry by directing TV dramas and music videos. Then, in 1993, his TV drama, Fireworks, brought him critical praise and the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his portrayal of a group of children in the town of Iioka. In 1995 he went on to start his career in feature films, starting with the box-office hit Love Letter, in which he cast pop singer Miho Nakayama in dual roles. Love Letter also launched the movie career of Miki Sakai who won a Japanese Academy Award as 'Newcomer of the Year' for her portrayal of Itsuki Fujii as a young girl. Iwai collaborated with cinematographer Noboru Shinoda to produce a film praised for its evocative winter cinematography. Love Letter made an impact in other east Asian countries too, notably South Korea where the film's success helped break down the post-World War II barriers to Japanese films being shown there. In 1996 came the commercial and critical success of Swallowtail Butterfly, a multifaceted story of the fictional Yen Town, a city of immigrants in search of hope and a better life with three separate and distinct main characters. Ageha (Ayumi Ito), an orphaned teenage girl, Glico (Chara), a prostitute turned pop star, and Feihong (Hiroshi Mikami), an immigrant who manages Glico's career and owns the Yen Town club. He also wrote the lyrics of a theme song for the film Swallowtail Butterfly (Ai no Uta) with Chara and Takeshi Kobayashi. In 1998, Fine Line Features released Love Letter in the United States theatrically under the new title When I Close My Eyes; it was the first Iwai-directed film to be released in the United States theatrically.
Iwai enjoyed another kind of success with this film as well, having teamed up with Takeshi Kobayashi to create the music for the film and the Yen Town Band, headed by Pop star Chara. The band they created became a commercial hit in Japan. He would team up with Kobayashi again in 2001 for the harrowing High School Drama All About Lily Chou-Chou. Kobayashi would create the music for the titular pop star, Lily Chou-Chou (voiced by Japanese singer Salyu), that is spread through the film (as well as Debussy), and later be released as an album entitled Kokyu (Breathe). In 2002 he released a short, ARITA, in which he composed his own film score for the first time. In 2004 Iwai released Hana & Alice, his first comedy. He once again composed the film score himself. He has recently directed a commercial airing in Japan featuring Matsu Takako, whom he has not worked with since 1998. October 2006 sees the Iwai produced film Rainbow Song released in Japan. The film is directed by Naoto Kumazawa and was written by Ami Sakurai. It stars previous Iwai actors Hayato Ichihara, Yu Aoi and Shoko Aida. Also in 2006, Iwai spent time documenting and interviewing Kon Ichikawa while filming The Inugamis (Inugamike no ichizoku - 2006) to create a feature-length documentary about the director's life. A more recent project, a piece he wrote about the Japanese indie rock scene in the early 1990s called Bandage, was released on January 16, 2010. Apart from being in charge of the music production, "Bandage" represents Takeshi Kobayashi's first time as a movie director. The project was originally taken by Ryuhei Kitamura, but was dropped in 2006. The filming started in 2008 and Kobayashi chose a completely different cast for the movie, casting j-pop singer Jin Akanishi and Kie Kitano for the main roles. It also included other actors who have worked with Iwai before, such as Ayumi Ito and Hideyuki Kasahara. The release of the horror film Vampire marked his English-language film debut.
Thread We feel love most strongly the first time, and it taste like a green apple. It is not usually happy ending for the first love, but it is a first class to teach you how to full in love with someone.
Festival filmography 1995 Love Letter 1998 April Story 2001 All about Lily Chou-Chou 2004 Hana & Alice
Festival Filmography 1991
Unknown Child
1991
The Man Who Came to Kill
1992
Ghost Soup
1992 Maria 1992
A Tin of Crab Meat
1992
A Summer Solstice Story
1992 Omelette 1993
Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?
1993
Fried Dragon Fish
1993
The King of Snow
1994 Undo 1994
Lunatic Love
1995
Love Letter
1996 Picnic 1996
Swallowtail Butterfly
1998
Knit Cap Man
1996
Mirror of the Sky
1997
April Story
1999
The Kids Who Wanted to View Fireworks from Another Perspective
2000
Ritual Day
2001
All About Lily Chou-Chou
2002
Jam Films
2002
Triumphal March and 30 Days of Their Own
2004
Hana & Alice
2006
Rainbow Song
2006
The Kon Ichikawa Story
2007
The Bandage Club
2008
New York, I Love You
2009 Baton 2009 Halfway 2010 Bandage 2010
I Have to Buy New Shoes
2011
friends after 3.11
2011 Vampire 2015
The Case of Hana & Alice
2016
Rip van Winkle no Hanayome
Title /subtitle of festival First Love When people full in love at first time. Green Apple First love is like a green apple, tastes most sour and little bit sweet. Maybe it is Love Not sure this is love. Near & Far Love is A Dream When I meet you, it is like a dream. Behind Love Own World Loving you does not with you The Tower of Ivory Love Secret Meet Love First Time Because I Love You About Spring Taste Green Apple Fresh Touch of Love Encounter When I meet you. 2 young Too young, two young people, to young people.
Doodle Good fortune
Begin
End
Bad fortune
Boy meet girl Girl meet boy
Additional I prefer to add Piano music which in the movie.
Positioning/History of festival I would create a sentimental atmosphere and connect with Japanese culture in my film festival. Let people remember their memory of youth.
Audience First, the fans of Shunji Iwai Second, target people who interest about Japanese culture or films. Third, Asia people in America They have similar culture about first love
Location and Dates I prefer to create this film festival at Japantown in San Francisco on April 4. The sakura will open, and japan town will have Cherry Blossom Festival at this season. People could join the Cherry Blossom Festival after my film festival; this is a good chance to know about Japanese culture. (The 2016 Northern California Cherry Blossom FestivalŽ will be held on Saturday and Sunday April 9-10 and April 16-17, 2016. All are welcome to join in the festivities as we celebrate Japanese and Japanese American culture in San Francisco’s Japantown!)
Buckets Photo Style
Backlighting
Muted
Raining
Watercolor/ Brush
Circle
Circle
Type Style
Format style
Format style
Buckets
Mater Moodboard Director
Shunji Iwai
Festival Title
Spring Memories
Filmography
Hana & Alice / Love Letter / April Story / All about Lily Chou-Chou
Thread
We feel love most strongly the first time. It is not usually a happy ending for the first love, but it is an important experience because we learn how to avoid the same mistakes we made the first time, and we know how to love people.
Guiding Narrative A girl goes to a garden, which is the first place she was with her first boyfriend. She walks every path they walked before. She does everything that they did before.
Level 1
Leve 2
Level 3
Poster
The Japantown San Francisco Shunji Iwai 1993 Fried Dragon Fish 1995 Love Letter 1998 April Story 2001 All about Lily Chou-Chou 2004 Hana & Alice
April 4, 2017
Title Design Cherry Blossom Rain Cherry Blossom Rain Cherry Blossom Rain Cherry Blossom Rain
Cherry Blossom Rain
Mater Moodboard Director Festival Title
Shunji Iwai Sentimental Spring Fried Dragon Fish / Hana & Alice / Love Letter / April Story /
Filmography Thread
All about Lily Chou-Chou We feel love most strongly the first time. It is not usually a happy ending for the first love, but it is an important experience because we learn how to avoid the same mistakes we made the first time, and we know how to love people.
Guiding Narrative A girl goes to a garden, which is the first place she was with her first boyfriend. She walks every path they walked before. She does everything that they did before.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Director Mind Map
Jane Campion They have similar visual style. Darker love story, and about woman identity.
Shunji Iwai Sofia Coppola They have similar visual style. American young people love story.
Xavier Dolan Describe teenager’s story. The story more focuses on family problem.
Kar Wai Wong Talking love story. There are many Chinese elements in his movie.
Ki-duk Kim They have similar visual style that is Clean and soft. Although this director tells a love story, it is like the forbidden fruit story.
Tetsuya Nakashima They have similar visual style. Japanese inspirational story.
March 5th-7th
Shunji Iwai Film Festival
Fried Dragon Fish Hana & Alice Love Letter April Story All about Lily Chou-Chou Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai. Shunji Iwai Film Festival Fried Dragon Fish Hana & Alice Love Letter April Story All about Lily Chou-Chou
March 5th-7th www. sentimental spring film festival.com
SSe nntti mmeen e i n SSp rriinng g Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai. www. sentimental spring film festival.com
Shunji Iwai Film Festival
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai. Shunji Iwai Film Festival Fried Dragon Fish
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai.
Hana & Alice Love Letter April Story All about Lily Chou-Chou
March 5th-7th www. sentimental spring film festival.com
Fried Dragon Fish Hana & Alice Love Letter April Story All about Lily Chou-Chou
March 5th-7th www. sentimental spring film festival.com
Shunji Iwai Film Festival
All about Lily Chou-Chou
April Story
Love Letter
Hana & Alice
Fried Dragon Fish
March 5th-7th
March 5th-7th Hakone Estate & Gardens www. sentimental spring film festival.com
Shunji Iwai Film Festival Fried Dragon Fish Hana & Alice Love Letter April Stor y All about Lily Chou-Chou
感傷的な春 Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai. Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai.
Shunji Iwai Film Festival www. sentimental spring film festival.com
Fried Dragon Fish Hana & Alice Love Letter April Stor y All about Lily Chou-Chou
感
感傷的な春
Shunji Iwai Film Festival
All about Lily Chou-Chou
April Story
Love Letter
Hana & Alice
Fried Dragon Fish
March 5th-7th
傷
的
な 春
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai.
March 5th-7th Hakone Estate & Gardens
All about Lily Chou-Chou
April Story
Love Letter
Hana & Alice
Fried Dragon Fish
All about Lily Chou-Chou
April Story
Love Letter
Hana & Alice
Fried Dragon Fish
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai.
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai.
March 5th-7th Hakone Estate & Gardens
Shunji Iwai Film Festival
March 5th-7th Hakone Estate & Gardens
Shunji Iwai Film Festival
Sentimental Spring 感傷的な春
Title Design
感 傷 的 な 春
感 傷 的 な 春
March 5-7
Love Letter April Stor y All about Lily Chou-Chou
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai.
Fried Dragon Fish Hana & Alice Love Letter April Stor y All about Lily Chou-Chou
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai.
March 5-7
www. sentimental spring film festival.com
Hana & Alice
www. sentimental spring film festival.com
Fried Dragon Fish
Poster 切 な い 春 は
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films of Shunji Iwai March
05-07 Hakone Estate & Gardens 2100 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA
Fried Dragon Fish Hana & Alice Love Letter April Story All about Lily Chou- Chou
www.sentimentalspringfilmfestival. com
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DVD
All about Lily Chou-Chou
Fried Dragon Fish
Shunji Iwai
Shunji Iwai
Shunji Iwai
Love Letter
April Story
Shunji Iwai
Shunji Iwai
Hana & Alice Shunji Iwai
Welcome to the Sentimental Spring film festival celebrating the films of director Shunji Iwai. The festival will be held at Hakone Estate & Gardens, which is a traditional Japanese garden in Saratoga. This beautiful garden brings to life the atmosphere of Iwai’s films. During the festival, March 5-7, five films will be screened, and hope you will join the festival to remember your first love. At the close of the festival there will be a party where you can enjoy Japanese traditional food, tea and music.
Lessons we learn from our first love in the films if Shunji Iwai.