Q: I watched the film thinking, "I don't want to see a scene where a woman is raped,". Although it happens in the story, it is not depicted as a scene. Were you aware of that?
A: Yes, I was aware of it. In this day, there is a strong tendency for many film festivals around the world not to accept films that directly depict rape. I also feel that it is difficult to depict the oppression of minorities and the weak in an explicit way, not just women.
A: Even if it exists as a fact in the film, it needs to be portrayed with care. If you don't do it, you need to be absolutely convincing that it's inevitable.
Q: What is the ratio of women in Team Shiraishi? Are you thinking of increasing the number of female staff in the form of quotas?
A: The film that was recently cranked up happened to have a lot of women. The camera assistants were all female. There were also many in the art department. But on the other hand, there are sections such as the recording that have almost no female staff, and we need more women among the cameramen. As for the main staff, I ask to hire directly, but as for the assistants the staff choose for themselves, I have to leave that to them. I'd like to do that gradually. We need to show that we are an industry that accepts women. I recently saw a statistic that only 3% of major Japanese films are directed by women, but Disney films have quickly become almost entirely directed by women. I believe that there is talent in Japan.
About the "Anti-Harassment Training" that they did for the first time in Japan Film Industry
Q: Dir Shiraishi said, "I used to be on the side of old common sense. What made you change your mind?
A: When I was an assistant director, times were different from now, and the workplace was a very hierarchical society. However, I could do well, so I used to think that only those who survived in such a world could win the right to make films. It wasn't until I became a director that I started to see things differently. There were a few times when I made difficult requests and the shooting didn't go well, so we had to reshoot many times, and everyone got frustrated, which resulted in the assistant directors getting angry. But that's because I'm the one who's asking for the impossible. Long hours of filming are also a major cause, and a deteriorating work environment can also be the reason for harassment. With my current level of experience, I would have been able to judge that which scene is not important enough to force the staff, but at the time of my debut, I didn't have much time to spare, and I was in a hurry to achieve results.
Q: How was the training? Any reactions like, "Why are you doing this?"
A: There were some. But what's more important is what the "introduction of the training" means- a declaration that "we will never tolerate harassment in Team Shiraishi this time". First of all, it is important to create an awareness and atmosphere that any kind of harassment is not allowed. As human beings, we sometimes get irritated, I would have yelled, "Bullshit!" but with training I will be careful even I don't mean it. As a result, there were more smiles and it became a more pleasant shooting. I think that film industry organizations should promote this. That's why we're losing so many talented people.
Q: I feel that many directors in their 40s, who are both popular and talented, are worried about the current film industry. Is it difficult to change something in solidarity?
A: It's entirely not that, but I think that the Directors Guild of Japan or the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPA) should take the lead in such matters. However, the Directors Guild tends to prioritize protecting their own rights in the end, MPPA is a group of major film studios, so I feel that they tend to put their own interests first. There are so many things that the film industry needs to do now, such as improving the working environment, educating freelancers and young staff, supporting young filmmakers, gender disparity, or supporting mini-theaters, but there's no organization that takes consideration for all and thinks about the future. I want our industry to be a place where people can survive.
Q: That sounds like so-called "rewarding exploitation" to me.
A: The previous generation's mindset "shooting all night to make a good movie" equals success is the same as LDP (their ruling party 😅) that says "it's okay to pass a bill if LGBTQ people can bear children", they can't accept the values of the new era. It will be difficult to persuade them, so we have no choice but to leave them alone and keep moving forward.
Shiraishi: I announced Anti-Harassment training first thing purposely. To make ppl who want to work here aware that "some teams are doing it properly", and also a message to those who are still yelling and violent that "If nothing is done, it won't be possible to make a film."
Regarding the film's dark look
I tried to leave shadows in the dark areas. In recent movies, there is a tendency to put a lot of light on the scenes. Because of lack of time or budget, we're anxious.
So, we put light on everyone's face so that we don't have to reshoot. But as a result, the technique of deliberately leaving shadows has lost. This time, I dared to try doing that. I wanted to do it without fearing that the screen would be dark. During the period when I couldn't go outside due to Corona, I watched various films and thought that everyone in the world is taking on a lot of challenges, so I wanted to create something a little more aggressive.
What I felt again was how good it felt to be invisible. It feels good to not explain. It's good for movies to be vague. I don't think it's a good film if you can understand everything. I think it is important to leave some things unanswered.
