Tokyo senso sengo hiwa - Eiga de isho wo nokoshite shinda otoko no monogatari (The man who put his will on film)

A member of cinema club at a high school commits suicide, leaving his will in the form of a film, and the other members of the group seek to understand his suicide by scrutinizing the film’s footage. However, they find that the film consists only of shots of everyday landscapes. The film achieves a meta-cinematic structure by use of this film-within-a- film format, while the narrative follows the protagonist, who becomes obsessed with shooting the same landscapes his friend had shot to solve the riddle.

I became fascinated by an illusion of a man who would die and leave his testament on film. Then, as my films always begin with my fantasies, the idea for a new film was born. Occasionally I am asked where this concept or idea came from. It is impossible, however, to respond to such a question. It is simply a matter of my hearing or seeing a mirage, of a fantasy suddenly drifting to the surface of my mind. If there is one thing I can say with certainty, however, it is that it is because I see mirages and hear their voices that I am a filmmaker. [...] the illusion I experienced [...] is related to the deep interest I took in the life and death struggle launched by the various sects of the student movement to prevent Prime Minister Satō from visiting the United States in 1969 [...] I, too, wandered through the demonstrations at Haneda airport, carrying a camera and filming what I could, but, of course, I did not die either. For me, the question of how to die in the 1970s is an answer to the question of how to live.

PRODUCTION: Oshima Productions LTD
4F, ,Yamaguchikensetsu daini bldg.,5-4-11,Akasaka
1070052, Tokyo, Japan
Tel. 81 335852700
mail@oshima-pro.jp

PRESS OFFICE: Vincent Paul-Boncour - Carlotta Films
74, rue de Charenton
75012, Paris, France
Tel. 01 42 24 10 86
info@carlottafilms.com