00:00Grazie a tutti
00:30So basically I mean I've been living in Tokyo for the past 10 years and I went to Okinawa about
00:386-7 years ago just at the beginning of Covid and spent a few months there and that's basically I
00:50mean I knew about Okinawa and its history but that's basically where I've really kind of dived into its full
00:59history.
01:00and discovering the contrast between the military and the natives from there and the history of colonization from Japan in
01:12Okinawa.
01:13So that's basically how I've really entered this world of Okinawa and how Okinawa also became a character within the
01:25film.
01:35So what do you think about it?
01:38So what do you think about it?
01:39So what do you think about it?
01:54And that was inspired by two kids that I met.
01:59One from Okinawa as I was doing a photo book.
02:04One kid from Okinawa that had a friend from the military base and they both spoke to each other in
02:10each their own language.
02:11And that's when I wanted to start writing about this contrast and this contrast in identity and this contrast especially
02:22with this very complex geopolitical background.
02:27But it had to be very subtle and very precise to address those questions.
02:37It took so many years to write, I mean to develop the story in Okinawa.
02:44All of these parts that is the photography, the music, the sound play a huge role in the story and
02:56in the tempo of the film.
03:00And Okinawa is a really slow pace place.
03:05You know people say that there's Japan time and there's Okinawa time.
03:10You know people are always late and there's this like a true island vibe.
03:15And the moment I went there you could feel the sound kind of like taking over.
03:21that is from the base or from the forest or from the animals or from the insects.
03:28The heat that you could feel and so it had to be kind of a slower paced film to really
03:37tell the story right.
03:50As I said at the beginning Okinawa is a character in the film I feel.
03:55Because of the relationship between the two main characters is truly about where they want to belong.
04:05So Okinawa had to be a character and we had to feel Okinawa because it's one of the main themes,
04:14which is where do these kids want to belong.
04:17And the figure of the female character in this film is very important, I think.
04:22Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:22We talk about violence, violence.
04:24We talk about women who are looking for a solitude to be recognized.
04:31How did you describe the figure of the woman in these colors of the sun?
04:36So, of Sayaka.
04:37Yeah, I mean...
04:39So the way I wrote it was based on a spiritual character from Okinawa called Kijimuna.
04:46And it's a character that... it's a spirit from Okinawa that's very interesting.
04:52They hide behind trees and they're always there to help others and to do pranks to others.
05:00So I wanted this character to be almost... yeah, ethereal, you know?
05:06Like almost... actually she's my favorite character.
05:10She's kind of like, you know, moving as if like she's completely in control of what's happening
05:18and Kami doesn't truly understand it because he doesn't understand himself yet.
05:27And I think that was really important in this film where masculinity is a big theme.
05:34We needed like the mum character and Sayaka to come and balance this kind of like... yeah, these other themes
05:47that were presented.
06:04It's about perception. You know, it's about those two kids that see themselves from a way to another differently from
06:16what they maybe appear.
06:18And it's about the viewer also seeing this American as someone maybe different from the local kid, but they're actually
06:28quite similar.
06:30It's... so the whole film is about perception and how we see things around you. Everything is not as it
06:40seems necessarily.
06:55I'm a actor and I'm an actor, but I'm not a actor for you now, too.
07:03I'm a actor and I'm a actor for a while.
07:10Is he still here?
07:12No, no, no.
