Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 22 - Index

Most independent
filmmakers will tell
you that securing
funding is the
principal challenge
to keeping a project
afloat. However,
if you asked Junko
Kajino and Ed M.
Koziarski, a wife/
husband team of
Chicago filmmakers,
they might suggest
something a bit more
conspicuous and
tangible, perhaps
“typhoon.” Their
feature, “The First
Breath of Tengan
Rei,” premieres this
month at the Gene
Siskel Film Center in
Chicago.
The film centers
around a young Okinawan woman, Rei, as she journeys to
America to confront two former Marines convicted of assaulting
her 10 years prior. She kidnaps the teenage son of one of the
Marines and holds him captive in a motel.
Set against the ongoing American military presence on the
Japanese island of Okinawa, the film explores the psychic
consequences of occupation, for occupier and occupied, a
very relevant issue in today’s world. It questions the possibility of
transformation for the victim and perpetrators of a heinous crime,
finding hope in the hard road of forgiveness.
Shot across an ocean from Chicago in a former leper colony
on Okinawa, the ambitious production had to overcome a vast
number of cultural differences, in addition to the challenges
inherent to any production. “On the first shooting day in Okinawa,
the entire American crew was five minutes late, including Ed, while
the Japanese crew was there 10 minutes before call time,” recalls
�����������������
“The First Breath Of Tengan Rei” Premieres At The Gene Siskel Film Center
By Kevin Jeong
Kajino. “The Japanese production manager said to
me, ‘Look, only the American crew is late. You take
responsibility.’”
“Language was a challenge, most of us only spoke
one,” added Koziarski, who co-directed the project
with Kajino, “We worked out a shorthand so we were
able to function pretty well, and a lot of film terms are
universal.”
As a directing team, “We have to agree on everything
about the film, starting from line one of the script to
how much money we should spend, literally, on every
single element in the
film,” says Kajino.
Koziarski adds, “This
is a creative benefit
in that neither of us
will let a bad idea
to get by the other
one.”
“To resolve this,”
adds Kajino, “we
‘talk’ a lot until we
agree.”
Utilizing the
Panasonic HVX200,
the production
captured everything
from the unspoiled
shores of Okinawa
to the dark, smothered skies of the industrial Midwest in high
definition. Footage was captured to the laptop live on set using
a Panastore drive and later edited in Final Cut Pro on a Macbook
Pro.
“As early adopters of P2, we spent some time getting our system
down, but once we did it was an enormous benefit in terms of
accessibility and ease of transfer,” says Koziarski.
With the film completed and the premiere only days away, new
issues need to be resolved. “It’s a difficult time for the industry
as old distribution paradigms fall apart and are being replaced
by new models whose precise shape no one quite knows yet,”
says Koziarski. “The [Gene Siskel] Film Center is the first of several
theatres that we’re booking directly and promoting through word
of mouth, social networking and direct outreach to groups with an
interest in the subject matter.”
“It’s a lot of work, but we’re devoted to creating something
original,” adds Kajino. “No one can work harder than we do for
our film.”
“The First Breath of Tengan Rei” screens on November 21 - 23 at the
Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St. in Chicago. The Chicago
Alumni Chapter of Antioch College will host a benefit reception for
the college before the Saturday Nov. 22 screening. Tickets can be
purchased at the Film Center box office or through Ticketmaster.
//www.tenganrei.com
������������������������Visit www.screenmag.tv for more daily news than ever before!