Interview with Naoki Fujimoto from Japan | 4th KIIFF

"Diana from Hong Kong: A Solo Filmmaker’s Journey Through Challenges, Passion, and Purpose"

1. How did the idea come to you, and what inspired you to create it?

I conceived the idea for this film, “Diana from Hong Kong,” more than 10 years ago.My original idea was to depict the contradictions in current Japanese society through the perspective of a young Asian (Chinese, Taiwanese, etc.) woman in her teens to twenties living in Japan.

I have also attempted to portray current Japanese society from the perspective of a foreigner living in Japan in a short documentary film I produced and directed in 2007 called “Otaku Guy from America.

2. What were the main challenges you faced during the filmmaking process? How did you overcome them?

I produced, directed, wrote, shot, and edited this film all by myself, so it was almost a one-on-one shoot between myself and the actors, with no assistant director or crew.

Because the film was produced, directed, and shot like a documentary film, in which I closely interviewed a particular person, it was very difficult for me to deal with everything that happened on the set by myself.

However, I was able to complete the shoot without any major problems because I was familiar with the method of directing and shooting alone, having worked on several documentary films.

3. What unique features characterized the pre-production, production, and post-production phases of your film? Did any specific incidents or interesting experiences occur during these stages?

Since this was my first feature-length drama film, the biggest challenge was to cleanly record the actors' voices during the shooting.

As I mentioned earlier, I did all the work on this film by myself, so I did not have a recording person, which made it quite difficult for me to record the sound.

4. Did your film include a location or setting that was particularly difficult to find or use? How did you address this challenge?

Since my film was an independent film with a low budget and I was not well known in Japan, it was very difficult to find a place to rent out a coffee shop to shoot a scene in a coffee shop.

In a commercial film, it would be easy to rent a studio to shoot a scene because of the budget and staff, but in my case, I was an independent production company called STUDIO F+, so the hard work started with finding a location to shoot on location and getting permission.

5. How was your collaboration with your production team (actors, technical crew, etc.)? What key lessons did you learn about building a successful team?

I realized how difficult it was to convey my enthusiasm and passion for this film production to the actors who appeared in it.

6. What is the core theme or message of your film, and what do you hope the audience will take away from it?

My film “Diana from Hong Kong” is based on actual events and there are three main themes or messages of the film.

1, The problem of regular employment for people in their 35s to 50s, the “lost generation” in today's Japanese society.

2, Like many people around the world, many people in Japan use smartphones to watch online news and videos, and the issue of the influence of these social networking services.

3, Regarding the fact that Hong Kong's freedom of speech in politics has been completely lost with the intensification of the Hong Kong democracy demonstrations and the subsequent amendment of laws by the Chinese government, is it right for a state to deprive people living in that country of their freedom of speech? The question is.

7. Is there any experience from this project that you plan to apply or avoid in your future work?

For my next film, I would like to gather assistant directors and staff to produce a film.

8. How have festivals and audience feedback influenced your artistic journey?

I am very surprised that the film has received awards and official selections at film festivals in many countries, despite the fact that it took place in Asia, such as Japan and Hong Kong.

I have not yet received any specific feedback from festivals or audiences, so I would like to know what people who have seen the film think about it.

9. As an independent filmmaker, what advice would you give to others who are entering this field?

It is a given that filmmaking is expensive, but in this day and age, “movies” can be produced even with smartphones, and thanks to the proliferation of digital devices, filming equipment is available at low cost.

I would never recommend that you do all the filmmaking by yourself, as I did, because it is full of difficulties, but if you want to tell a story through images, I think the first step is to take on the challenge.

10. If you had another opportunity, what changes would you make in the process of creating this project?

For me, the film “Diana from Hong Kong” is a film that will probably never be made the same way again. I put all my energy into making this film, and I would not make any changes to it.