Kimi Takesue

Kimi Takesue is an Asian-American filmmaker from a unique cross-cultural background that provided her with experiences that give her films a unique and captivating approach. Born in Denver, Colorado, but growing up in Hawaii and Massachusetts provided her insight into two very different worlds. Despite a later introduction in life to film, she has been recognized globally for her documentary work and narrative pieces. Her latest feature-length film 95 and 6 to Go was selected for many festivals and was the recipient of the Special Jury Prize for Best Feature Documentary at the LA Asian Pacific Internat'l Film Festival. Her films provide an insight into life in such a way where the audience are given the chance to see life as it is, and not be distracted by everything else.

Alex Fisher-Wagner: Well to keep on talking about your family then let's jump on into 95 and 6 to Go. First of all it was such a fun and interesting experience to watch. Personally it was really fascinating and something I wished I had done more filming of my own grandparents as they had gotten older. Unfortunately, they've passed on but it's one of those things where I was really struck by it. I was like "Oh this is such an interesting take on a relationship". So I was reading of course and it took you six years to film. Can you just describe like what the process of filming for that long is like and how then you decided to choose which clips you chose.

Kimi Takesue: 95 and 6 to Go was an unusual piece. Just to provide an overview, 95 and 6 to Go is a portrait of my Japanese-American grandfather in Hawai’i and how he becomes surprisingly engaged in my stalled romantic screenplay and offers unexpected advice. His creative script revisions serve as a vehicle for his memories of love, loss, and perseverance to surface.

A lot of my pieces in the documentary realm are collage-like, in that I go through a long period of gathering without a clear sense of a final outcome or structure. In this case, while I was filming my grandfather, he clearly told me that I could never show the material to anyone. He actually threatened me and said "If you ever show this to anyone I'm going to disown you and I will never forgive you." And he really meant it. I was going through this very unusual collection process of gathering material but I never looked at it afterwards. I wasn't really thinking about it in any way in terms of structure. I never thought I'd be able to make a film. That being said, people ask me, "then why did you continue to film?"

So the starting point for 95 and 6 to Go happened when my grandfather read my feature screenplay. It was a big project- an international co-production with some very prominent actors and producers attached. I had spent five or six years of my life mono-maniacally working on this one project. My grandfather was a retired postal work and he had never taken interest in any of my past creative projects. But when he read this romantic screenplay it animated him in this surprising way and he started to come up with titles, songs, and new endings for the script. I was so surprised by this new dimension that surfaced within him, so that was the starting point of the filming process. It was fascinating to me because I was seeing him in this new way and up until that point, he'd been someone that existed on the periphery for me; he was a strict, stoic, practical grandfather. But he was not someone you had fun with or really talked to; I just overlooked him.

And so when I saw him light up in this new way it was so wonderful and I started to film him. The majority of the film takes place after my grandmother has died and it’s the first time that we spent alone together. So it was this period of us getting to know each other in a new way. The act of filming sharpened my attention and ability to see him and interact with him in new ways. So, the camera was a catalyst for us to begin a new conversation. But I never thought I would share this footage publicly.

There were many restrictions because my grandfather was a resistant subject in so many ways. One of the things that’s refreshing about the film is that my grandfather is so frank and uncensored as a subject. But every once in awhile he'd stop and say, “If you ever show this to anyone I'll disown you.” So I had to work in a very low-key, unobtrusive way. I couldn't interfere with his daily rituals. I worked in an observational mode where I often would set up the camera and let it roll and try not to interfere in any way.

And so it was a very unusual circumstance of gathering footage without assessing it in any way. It wasn't until right before he died that he gave me permission to make a film about his life, and suddenly I realized it was a possibility. It took me three years of going through the footage and thinking about it and starting to edit and wondering if this could be a piece and then I made the decision, “Okay, I want to do this for myself.” It became very clear to me that I wanted a document of my family but I had no idea if it was going to resonate with anyone else. It's been a wonderful surprise because it's such an intimate piece but it has resonated with people around the globe—it speaks to many universal issues around aging, memory, family, untapped creativity and inter-generational relationships. And what's so cool is that people often assume that young people aren’t interested in older people, but I have found that young people around the world have really responded to this film.

Alex Fisher-Wagner: I think also like the style of it was something that I could relate to I guess in like the sense of like you know doing YouTube casual it's like it's very much just you observe your day or you observe the people around you with your camera. So I guess it was a really refreshing take. My only other question I guess it will make more sense to me once it's answered It's like you chose. Well did you choose specifically the aspect ratio.

Kimi Takesue: I started 95 and 6 to Go a long time ago; I began filming in 2005. The piece was shot on standard definition video and a lot of work went into post-production to elevate the image and make it appear like 16mm film. But what's fascinating is that when HD video was first introduced there was a hierarchy of image quality and standard definition video was considered old and degraded. Everyone was obsessed with HD and the clarity of the image and, of course, more expensive cameras. There was a stigma attached to the older standard definition images. Now, it’s been so long since standard definition was used that people are becoming nostalgic for it and young people think it is cool and different. The 4:3 aspect ration has a different feel and a lot of young people who aren't familiar with that format find it to be a curious novelty. 95 and 6 to Go was shot over the course of six years but I didn’t want to change the shooting format or aspect ratio. I wanted the film to be understated and I didn't want to call attention to a change in camera.

In terms of the observational style, I am interested in observing the daily rituals of life that might easily be overlooked. I’m also interested in structure and form and there are a number of things that are particular about this documentary. For example, the films open with a long-take of my grandfather doing sixty push-ups. This scene sets up the film in an important way. At the outset, I want to establish the rhythm of the film—and let the audience know that it’s a slower-paced film that requires some patience. It’s a film that asks viewers to attentively watch and appreciate everyday situations, they might otherwise overlook. So I allow the image to play out and unfold so you can see the details of his home—the details of his clothing, and the evolution of the action.

Through the long duration of the shot we see the incredible grit and perseverance of my grandfather. We see his body slowly sagging but he remains determined. And this is all essential information about his character—he’s a man who perseveres.

One of the challenges of the film is to push the form, but do it in an understated way. Ultimately, the film is a portrait of my grandfather; he doesn’t exist to serve my artistic whims. As I gain experience and confidence as a filmmaker, I am most interested in finding the essence of the story—and the simplest way of communicating and conveying complex ideas. So there is the appearance of something being simple but really it is very complex. For example, from an editorial perspective the structure of the film is quite complex but the goal is to make it look easy. In many ways, the challenge of this film was in working with restraint. My challenge was to find the simplest way of conveying complex ideas and emotions—and trust that the audience will get it.

Alex Fisher-Wagner: So to go off about being a little bit. Especially the idea of you know starting with like a long take. I know Where are You Taking Me starts off with a very long take, I think a minute and a half shot. I guess that the idea of holding your shots for those long periods is something that I very much enjoy because it does give you the audience that time, to reflect and to think about you know what what's happening. What emotions do you feel? And I find that a lot of movies don't do that. You don't have the time to actually think about what you just watched and what you are currently watching. I want to hear from you about why in your documentaries and I'm kind of talking about Looking for Adventure and Where are You Taking Me why the observational approach that gives the sense of you're not imposing yourself into your point you're telling or you're showing. Why that form, why that style?

Kimi Takesue: I'm really interested in the interplay between naturalism and stylization. On the one hand I capture real, spontaneous moments but I am framing them in a very particular way. Although I seem to be a detached observer, I am very present in the way I see and frame the situation. I am asking the viewer to look at something, with me, in a very particular way.

I'm fascinated by the cadences and poetry of everyday life and what is revealed in those moments. Composition is very important to me and I look for moments that are strong in terms of composition and aesthetics but that also possess real content, in terms of what is happening, and being revealed, within the shot. It’s difficult to find these moments.

So, for example, Where are You Taking Me? is a film that is looking at the nuances and rhythms of everyday life in Uganda. In the opening of Where are You Taking Me?, I establish the choreography and visual poetry of everyday life. I chose to open the film at an intersection point because it really captures the diversity of the city and the incredible cross-section of people in Kampala. For me, this scene sets up the film and the sense of going on a journey—because each person seems to be going someplace on his/her own independent journey. And everyone is navigating through this organized chaos, which really summed up the city for me.

I was also really interested in the colors and the graphic qualities of bodies moving through space and just the beautiful choreography of daily life. So, I let this shot play out because I also wanted to establish that this is film about the process of “looking” and it’s structured to allow the viewer the time and the freedom to engage with an image—and watch something unfold---and hopefully, begin to see and appreciate everyday situations in a new way.

Similarly, Looking for Adventure is constructed from documentary footage and thus anchored in the “real world.” However, the piece is organized in a series of long, formally composed, observational tableaux where action unfolds within a static frame. By framing ordinary situations in a composed, stylized way, interesting visual and thematic tensions are created for the viewers who sometimes question if what they see is real or staged.

Looking for Adventure is a film examining the pleasures, strains, and choreography of group tourism in Peru. The film asks, what do people seek when they travel abroad? It’s structured as a series of formal tableaux and the film tracks the tension between the universal desire for new experiences and the commodification of Andean culture for foreign consumption. I didn’t want to make a mean-spirited film that took cheap jabs at the “ugly tourist”. It’s easy to distance oneself and somehow feel superior to the vulgar tourist, however, I am one of the tourists in the film and I recognize myself within these problematic relationships and dynamics. Ultimately, I hope that other people who have traveled as tourists might also see themselves and reflect on the complexity of the experience.

Within the film, there is a certain level of critique--looking at the socio-economic inequities and the ways in which Andean culture is commodified and consumed by tourists. However, Looking for Adventure also explores the universal and genuine desires that people have for new experiences and new encounters. Economics ultimately dictate who can travel globally but the desire for new adventure is wide and far-reaching. Yet, when people are able to pursue their fantasies and travel across the globe there is often disappointment and an overall sense of emptiness. Looking for Adventure explores these experiences of fatigue, dislocation, and lack of authentic connections. Encounters with locals are too short, staged, or commodified. The tourist often stays on the easy, prescribed path of the group tour, but longs for something deeper that goes unfulfilled.

Alex Fisher-Wagner: I'm very inspired right now which is I think why I was excited because your work is different it's something that it just opens a different like realm of filmmaking for me right now. It's really exciting for me because sometimes I'm like I'm just doing what I would normally do. What if I try something different? Thank you.

Kimi Takesue: I think you have to trust your instincts. What are you naturally drawn to seeing? One of the things I appreciate about my documentary work is that the pieces tend to be very intimate, private experiences. There is a sense of mystery and discovery as I find each moment. Everyone else might be walking by, but I am witnessing and documenting a special moment that might easily be overlooked. It's a very private revelation and that can be so exciting. I think that’s what we’re all striving for—to find those little intuitive moments and small revelations.

Alex Fisher-Wagner: Good way to look at it like that. Let's see. We're wrapping up on the questions here. One of the questions I had for you about film was you know I guess personally also for me was how do you feel that your film, That Which Once Was can add to the conversation about current events or how do you feel your film can or art as a whole can add to the healing process or to support those who are dealing with events such as what we have going on right now with anti immigration immigrant sentiments and what not.

Kimi Takesue: That Which Once Was is a piece commissioned by ITVS for the FutureStates series which included a lot of amazing directors. For example, in my cohort Barry Jenkins from Moonlight did an episode, as well as Nisha Ganatra who is currently directing a lot of television. As filmmakers, we were asked to create short films, set in the future, that addressed important impending global issues. That Which Once Was is set in 2032 and it’s about an unlikely friendship that develops between two environmental refugees: a young boy who has lost his family and been displaced due to hurricanes and flooding and an Inuk man from the Arctic Circle who is an ice-carver and has been displaced due to the melting of the ice and rising waters.

In many ways, the starting point for That Which Once Was involved failed projects from my past. As you know, 95 and 6 to Go is, in part, about a stalled film project featuring a love story between a master Japanese ice carver and a cabaret singer in New York City. It was so frustrating because that film never received financing and wasn’t made but I had done so much preparation and research on the subject of ice carving. In the feature, ice provided the central metaphor to explore a tenuous and fleeting romantic relationship. I realized I wasn’t going to make the original film but I wanted to extract pieces of it for That Which Once Was--so the short film is about an Inuk ice carver who has been displaced from his home in the Arctic Circle due to the melting of the ice.

I also had recently traveled to Uganda to make Where Are You Taking Me? which was commissioned by the Rotterdam International Film Festival. This opportunity followed the disappointment around the feature film never being made. I had been so devastated by that experience and had spent five or six years in this limbo state of development going to meeting after meeting trying to raise millions of dollars. Everything was all set to go artistically and I had some amazing, prominent actors attached to the project but the financing was never secured.

So Where Are You Taking Me? was a cathartic experience. I went to Uganda without any real plan. I did, however, want to regain my self-sufficiency as a filmmaker and demonstrate to myself that I was capable of still producing work with limited resources. I also wanted to travel to Uganda without pre-conceptions and see what project organically developed. The only guiding principle I used was that I knew that the film would NOT focus on the sensational horrors of war or victimization in Uganda and further perpetuate stereotypes.

Where Are You Taking Me? is a journey through different microcosms of daily life in Uganda. At one point in the film, I visit a school called Hope North where you see the students engage in the ordinary rhythms of life at school. Later in the film, you discover that these kids were all impacted by the civil war and many of them were orphans or former child soldiers. But it’s important that this information surfaces in context, after first seeing them in their present lives as students at school. In other words, these young people have had very difficult pasts’ but they are not defined only by those experiences--they also study, hang out and play like other young people around the world.

When I visited their dormitories, I saw that many kids just had a single suitcase with random things from home. So this experience in Uganda influenced the story and images that appear in That Which Once Was. The film starts at a children’s shelter for kids who are environmental refugees and you see how each of them has items from their past that they cherish. There is also one scene in That Which Once Was where a doctor visits the main character, Vicente, who is haunted by nightmares. The doctor directly gives the child several pills in a plastic baggie. This was a scene that I actually observed in Uganda at Hope North where doctors would pay weekly visits to the school and administer drugs directly to the young people from a trunk filled with a variety of medications. A lot of the kids had serious health issues from diarrhea to being HIV positive but there weren’t resources to give them much individual attention. In my rendering of the future in That Which Once Was, I also envisioned a world with few resources.

That Which Once Was also emerged shortly after the devastating earthquake in Haiti and I was thinking about how kids, in particular, were impacted by environmental disaster. My point is that I start with personal encounters, situations, and images that resonate powerfully with me. Yes, the social issues are present within the film about the challenges of climate change and unfair discrimination towards immigrants and refugees, but that is not my starting point in how I think about making films. For me, it’s really about building intimate and specific stories that resonate emotionally and inspire reflection and contemplation.

That being said, That Which Once Was, addresses social and political issues more directly than my other films because it was a commissioned film and was intended for a very large audience in terms of distribution. In order to reach that wider audience, I adapted in certain ways in expressing ideas more explicitly and pacing the film faster. That Which Once Was reached a wide audience, including kids which was very cool. Each project has different parameters and presents different challenges and possibilities, and it was rewarding for me to see that I could work in a more main-stream cinematic language effectively, if I chose to. I personally find more artistic satisfaction in slower paced pieces that push formal boundaries, but it was satisfying to also reach new and wider audiences with That Which Once Was.

Alex Fisher-Wagner: So interesting. So inspired. So happy. Very glad I was here. That kind of wraps up all of my questions. Thank you so much!

www.kimitakesue.com

www.95and6togo.com

To view 95 and 6 to Go on Kanopy: http://www.kanopy.com/product/95-and-6-go