The second Kyoto International Film and Art Festival brought together two female powerhouses of Japanese cinema on October 16 for back–to-back screenings. Actress Kaori Momoi and Director Yoko Narahashi represent the very few women in the industry in Japan, and shared a stage at the event, before sitting down for a round table discussion with visiting journalists.Momoi previously spoke to ARTINFO in an exclusive interview at the Okinawa International Movie Festival in 2013. At the time she lamented the decline of Japanese cinema, so it’s not surprise perhaps that for her latest work, “Hee,” she filmed the entire movie in her LA home.Both director and lead actor in the film, it tells the tale of Azusa, an aging prostitute in the U.S. Based on a book by Akutagawa Prize-winner Fuminori Nakamura, the movie depicts the conversations between Azusa, and her psychiatrist.Narahashi, known as Japan’s gatekeeper to Hollywood, was in town for a special screening of her 1995 movie “Winds of God.” Starring Shota Yamaguchi and Masayuki Imai, it tells the tale of a comic duo sent back in time to WWII following a road accident, in placed with the Kamikaze suicide squad.Together, the duo who both live in Los Angeles these days, shared their tales of life at the top of Japanese film.You two worked together once, ten years ago, how was the experience?Yoko Narahashi – Yes in “Memoirs of Geisha” (2005), Kaori did a video tape audition, which was incredible.Kaori Momoi – My English was so bad.YN – But her acting was incredible so I just immediately sent it to Rob (Marshall) the director, and it was so easy.Do you have plans to work together again?YN – We have plans, next year, a movie I’ve been working on for a long time.KM – It’s Japanese, but hopefully we will shoot in Kyoto and France!What do you find are the differences in working in Japan, to other countries?KM – It’s not so different, only the bento (packed lunch) boxes! Because in LA we have catering, but not here. But the staff… a filmmaker is a filmmaker, it’s very similar everywhere.In the documentary on the making of “Hee,” you are seen subtly berating the actor playing the doctor for failing to show emotion and adhering too strongly to his lines. Do you find differences in acting techniques in various countries?YN – There are bad actors everywhere. It depends on the situation, but from my point of view Kaori’s acting is so real and instinctive. Her senses are so fine, and she works in the moment. A lot of people don't do it that way, they are stuck in the box. I think its everywhere, but maybe a little less so in the States.KM – Its spontaneous we don't have to think, we have to actYN – What she said to that actor [about “feeling” the character instead of sticking to lines], every actor should know. If you can do that, you are on the top of your artistry.Kaori, you filmed “Hee,” about the fictional aging prostitute Azusa, in your own house, how did that come about?KM – Yes, because we didn’t have any money! And we didn’t have time. So it was the best way. So it was a beautiful drive to the studio!YN – The movie business is declining, theaters are going away, we just have cinema complexes and budgets are really going down. Which to me is fine, these are good obstacles, because someone who really wants to make a movie will still make it. When you get an artist in a tight situation, no money, no time, that’s when they will prove something. We will find people then who will come up.KM – [With the success of] manga and games, now we have to compete with them.YN – Young people are trying, but I wish they had more courage to pursue what they want, what do you want to say, what do you want so much to express, they have to look inside. There is not enough of it. A lot of movies and TV shows, it’s patterns, the same things. In one way the culture in Japan is interesting, with amazing places, but people don’t realize what they have, the young kids, it’s too easy. Everything is in their phone.As two successful women in the industry, why do you think there are so few women in the higher levels of movie production in Japan?KM – We have so few [women], because there are Japanese men, that’s why!YN – Chauvinists? … but women are getting stronger. [The problem is] everyone is going in to animation and novels for ideas, and we are not encouraging them to write movies. I feel that young people get fed everything and if you say something bad this disappear, there is no fight.KM – People just don’t appreciate art here. And we both feel more free when we are in Los Angeles, that’s the only place where we can have time to meet.
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