Filmmaker Kotsuji Yohei on the title of the self-financing competition “A Foggy Paradise” in Tokyo and the state of indie filmmaking in Japan

This year’s Tokyo Film Festival (TIFF) will feature three Japanese filmmakers in competition, a feat TIFF program director Ichiyama Shozo told Deadline was a welcome highlight of the festival.

One of this year’s sets features filmmaker Kotsuji Yohei, making his feature film debut. A misty paradise, an enigmatic picture that revolves around two independent stories that run parallel to each other without specifying a place, time or destination. The two separate stories offer ideas about life and death with a distinct science fiction twist.

Here in Tokyo, the film is being compared to the work of masters of slow cinema such as Ming-liang Tsai. Kotsuji managed the project for five years, during which he also worked as a teacher at a school for children with special needs. He had no producer and only a government subsidy. Below, Kotsuji talks to Deadline about his feature film debut, his work as an independent filmmaker in Japan, and how he managed to raise the money to film.

DEADLINE: What do you think about the Tokyo Film Festival and bringing your debut to audiences here?

KOTSUJI YOHEI: At the Tokyo International Film Festival, all the films in the competition category are simply amazing. I have seen about four of them and they are all very beautiful, so I am very honored to be in this category. I also think the audience is very experienced, so I’m excited to see their reaction to the film.

DEADLINE: You are a full-time teacher and produce films in your spare time. Can you tell me a little about how you became a filmmaker?

YOHEI: I consider myself an independent filmmaker and therefore I will not be commissioned by anyone to make a film they want to make. I don’t really have a producer. It’s really about making the films I want to make. To an outsider, it might just look like a hobby. This film took about five years to make. After I finished my work, I thought about the script for a few hours, and I did that for about four years until I finally had an overall framework for the film.

DEADLINE: How did you get the equipment for filming and how did you find actors and collaborators?

YOHEI: I had my own fund of 1 million yen, about $10,000, and I wanted to use that money to make the film. About halfway through the filming, I had already used up the entire 1 million yen, so I was trying to figure out what to do when I heard about a funding program that the Japanese cultural organization called AFF. They gave a grant of 2.5 million yen, so I was able to get that grant and do the survey. As for the equipment, everything came from the cameraman and I recruited the actors online.

DEADLINE: What’s it like to be an independent filmmaker in Japan? Do you feel supported?

YOHEI: It depends on the filmmaker. Before this film I was completely unknown so I couldn’t even think of hiring a producer and I made the film without a producer. But there are also filmmakers who are essentially independent but still work with a producer, and then there are filmmakers who finance their work out of their own pockets. As for the support I get, I’d say it’s definitely not enough.

DEADLINE: What is the origin of the story? A misty paradise?

YOHEI: Before my grandfather died, he suffered from dementia for many years and also suffered from muscular dystrophy, which left him bedridden. When I visited him in his hospital, I took videos on my phone and spent time with him. It was an indescribable time, but after his death I realized that I had that experience, and from then on I imagined the two key scenes that make up the bulk of the film.

DEADLINE: You said you didn’t expect this film to blow up the way it did. How did you end up at the Tokyo Film Festival? Did you log in or were they found?

YOHEI: I submitted the entry but never expected it to go through. It felt more like I was just sending the film as a souvenir, and when they contacted me I was very surprised. When I emailed my friends to let them know, my hands were shaking.

DEADLINE: What do you hope will happen after this premiere? What is the best scenario for you and this film?

YOHEI: I hope I can travel with my family. I don’t have confirmed screenings anywhere yet, but my dream would be to be able to screen the film at international film festivals elsewhere.

DEADLINE: Getting permission to film in Tokyo is notoriously difficult. Did you shoot the film here and what was your experience?

YOHEI: It is actually very difficult to get permission to film in Tokyo. I shot most of my footage in Kanagawa, the prefecture right next to Tokyo. It was easier to get a permit there. The main residence in the film is Kawasaki City in Kanagawa.

DEADLINE: Do the students you teach and your colleagues know you have a film at TIFF? If so, what do you think?

YOHEI: I am a teacher at a special school so my students can’t speak and they are all in wheelchairs so I would say they are unaware of the situation. My fellow teachers are very happy for me and now jokingly call me the maestro or the master.

DEADLINE: What are you going to do now? Thinking about a second job?

YOHEI: I continue to work as an independent filmmaker. Right now I’m thinking of two ideas. The first was inspired by a trip I recently took to my hometown. I met old friends and we did what we did when we were young. We visited the supermarket and talked until the early hours of the morning. Then I realized that nothing had changed, we had simply grown into middle-aged men. It reminded me of John Cassavetes’s spouseSo I thought this might be the kind of film I would make. And the other idea: people described it A misty paradise Because it was close to science fiction. When I heard that, I thought that maybe I could do some science fiction that was more story-based.

DEADLINE: How do you feel about the experience of being interviewed and getting so much attention?

YOHEI: I remind myself not to let it go to my head and not to fool myself into thinking I am superior or important because I really am nobody.