Fans of Kawase Naomi..
I've met several of them over the years, in Finland and in Japan. I'm surprised, because there is something common that seems to connect us..You know, all of of her fans seem to be a kind of a dreamers, people without big ambitions, kind of "futsuu no hito". And all of us, seem to have experience of being abandoned. I remembered when I met a young design student Nao-san in Docpoint movie festival in Helsinki. She, like most of the audience, was holding back tears after watching "Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom". "Her movies are stunning" she said me.
But Kawase Naomi is a director who "fights it". Making a good movie is not by any chance easy accomplishment, and she is very frank about it. To make living out of non-mainstream movies is not easy either, so we all end up in a situation where we can't devote our entire time for movie, and some of us have families too. And that's just beginning.
After you've done a movie, whether digital or film production, whether with small or big budget, you have to face your movie, you know, you have to watch it through, and listen the feedback what your audience has to say. Myself, I admit my weakness after I listened the harsh feedback from Arura Movie. I got depressed. It wasn't that great. People weren't as moved as I was.
Kawase Naomi must have gone through much more profound school than I - so she can be so honest with her works.
This honesty and spirit is what makes people cry when watching her movies. I can only wish that I could have similar skill some day.