Teppei ISOBE was born in Osaka in 1978. After graduating from Visual Arts College Osaka, he worked on music videos and commercials as a freelancer. In 2016, he began directing independent short films. For WHO KNOWS ABOUT MY LIFE (2018 / NC ’19), he won the award for best short film at SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL 2018. F IS FOR FUTURE (2019 / NC ’20) is his first feature-length film. We are very glad he took the time to answer our questions for our Guest in Focus series.
When and how did you first get into filmmaking?
It all started when I was heading for my 30th birthday, worrying about how I should live my life from now on, and my little brother handed me a brochure of a film school. I have loved movies ever since I was a kid, so I enrolled in evening classes, where I could work and study at the same time. Within two years of film school, I was completely hooked on making films.
Where did you get the idea for your latest film?
I wanted to create my first feature film based on my own experiences I had during my final year in highschool. To this, I added the script writer’s ideas.
What was the biggest challenge while making your latest film?
For the planetarium scene, we had to carry in everything, shoot, and dismantle within two hours. It was a race against time. The set up for the ceremony scenes – wedding and funeral – were very challenging for me personally, as I was only shooting with a small number of people.
What are some challenges women especially are faced with in the Japanese film industry?
Well… I haven’t been at so many other film sets that I could talk about the Japanese film industry as such, so it’s a difficult question. At my own film sets, we are usually a small crew. As for the ratio, men outnumber women, but I’d like to increase the number of female crew members. I also want to involve women’s opinions in my movies much more.
F IS FOR FUTURE
Japan 2019, 60 min
Watch the film HERE from June 9 to 14, 2020
at the 20th Nippon Connection Film Festival
Check out the trailer!
映画作りを始めたのはいつ頃ですか? どのようなきっかけでしたか?
30歳が近づいてきてこれからどうやって生きて行くか悩んでる時、弟に映画専門学校のパンフレット渡されたのがきっかけです。
子供の頃から好きだった映画を作ってみようと働きながら通える夜間部に入学しました。
2年間の学校生活で映画製作にどっぷりハマりました。
新作のアイディアはどこで得たものですか。
初長編は自分の高校3年生の時の体験をベースに作ろうと思っていました。
そこに脚本家のアイディアも足して作りました。
今回の映画制作・撮影中での一番大きいなチャレンジは何でしたか?
プラネタリウムの撮影が搬入、撮影、撤収全てを2時間で行わなければならないという時間との戦いと、結婚式、お葬式と冠婚葬祭シーンの段取りなどは少人数で撮影してた自分としてはチャレンジでした。
日本の映画界で特に女性が直面しているチャレンジは何でしょうか?
うーん…日本映画界というほど他の現場にそれほど参加していないので難しい質問です。
自分の現場でいえば少人数のチームですが、男女の比率として男性が多いのですが、もっと女性のスタッフを増やしたいと思っています。
作品の内容にもっともっと女性の意見も入れていきたいと思います。
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