2023 "FOCUS ON YOUTH":
FEATURED EMERGING ARTIST
Filmmaker:
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Proud Sponsors of Focus on Youth 2023
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Award-winning filmmaker Kai Tomizawa studies film and television production at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She plans to write and direct strange little stories centered on queer and POC joy. Kai’s work has been recognized by YoungArts, All-American High School Film Fest, and National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), among others.
Outside of filmmaking, Kai enjoys rock climbing, belting Britney Spears, and listening to poetry podcasts.
Outside of filmmaking, Kai enjoys rock climbing, belting Britney Spears, and listening to poetry podcasts.
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"Around the time I made [Girl in Yellow], I was obsessed with Krzysztof Kieslowski’s The Double Life of Veronique for its poetic logic and magical realism. I liked how it captured a wondrous and invisible bond between two people living in parallel – a condition that could fully exist – but we just haven’t discovered it in our own lives yet." ~ Kai Tomizawa |
Kai Tomizawa discusses her short film Girl in Yellow as well as films and filmmakers she admires and has drawn inspiration from.
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Has your filmmaking changed in any way since your first attempt?
Absolutely. I started off making more sketch-comedy style videos with my family before I created anything I would call 'filmmaking.' Then, my first forays into filmmaking were with silent films. I’d recommend starting with silent films to other filmmakers. Creating silent films eliminates the technical challenge of working with microphones, but you’re forced to learn how to tell a story with images and to create meaning that’s deeper than just the context of what you’re filming. After those silent short films, I did larger productions with dialogue. But it wasn’t until the pandemic that I went back to those small exercises that made me fall in love with filmmaking as a way to tell stories. This recent film [Girl in Yellow] was one of those exercises, to express a short story in under two minutes, with one actor and a single line. Are there any common themes in your work? Ooh. I definitely see common themes, whether I’ve intended them or not. Sisterhood/closeness between girls (I grew up with a sister a year apart), small pets and disasters that happen because of them (I have way too many pet stories to count), and more recently, and since the pandemic, loneliness. I think this is a film that pretends to be about closeness between girls but is really about loneliness. |
Kai Working on a Project
Photo Courtesy: Kai Tomizawa |
Girl in Yellow was Selected for the
2023 PKX Reel Exposure, International Photo and Film Teen Exhibition & Festival (Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie)
2023 PKX Reel Exposure, International Photo and Film Teen Exhibition & Festival (Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie)
For such a short film, Girl in Yellow has a big impact. There can be more than one takeaway. What was the initial inspiration behind this work?
I try to catch little images that pop into my head right as I’m falling asleep, and this was one of those moments. I remember seeing this image of a girl spotting herself across the street, only to become her, and just turning the image over and over in my head until I could see the two-minute runtime play just the way I would complete it.
Around the time that I made this short, I was obsessed with Krzysztof Kieslowski’s The Double Life of Veronique for its poetic logic and magical realism. I liked how it captured a wondrous and invisible bond between two people living in parallel – a condition that could fully exist – but we just haven’t discovered it in our own lives yet. I wanted to make a kind of homage to that. This short film was an experiment, a challenge, really, for me to abandon logic and just make an idea that intrigued me.
I find that limitations help me write. Even the shortest of films are really hard to make logistically. So I wanted to make a one-minute piece with just one actor, and maybe a line of dialogue, but little else. I also made this around spring 2021, so for COVID safety, it made sense to ask one talented, close friend to act and to film outside. And then my dad was the only other crew member, driving around the block in our family car.
I try to catch little images that pop into my head right as I’m falling asleep, and this was one of those moments. I remember seeing this image of a girl spotting herself across the street, only to become her, and just turning the image over and over in my head until I could see the two-minute runtime play just the way I would complete it.
Around the time that I made this short, I was obsessed with Krzysztof Kieslowski’s The Double Life of Veronique for its poetic logic and magical realism. I liked how it captured a wondrous and invisible bond between two people living in parallel – a condition that could fully exist – but we just haven’t discovered it in our own lives yet. I wanted to make a kind of homage to that. This short film was an experiment, a challenge, really, for me to abandon logic and just make an idea that intrigued me.
I find that limitations help me write. Even the shortest of films are really hard to make logistically. So I wanted to make a one-minute piece with just one actor, and maybe a line of dialogue, but little else. I also made this around spring 2021, so for COVID safety, it made sense to ask one talented, close friend to act and to film outside. And then my dad was the only other crew member, driving around the block in our family car.
What does the kaleidoscope represent in Girl in Yellow?
Hmm. Perhaps a portal to an alternate world or a key to other possibilities and perspectives through refractions. In Veronique the protagonists have a habit of holding a glass ball to their eye to see the world upside down and stretched out. Kaleidoscopes are like glass balls, but instead of seeing things upside down, you see things broken into pretty shapes. I liked that idea.
The music has an ominous feel in this short film. Did you work with someone else on the music?
I was thinking about twisted beauty. I stumbled on a track of meditative bells in a royalty free music website. I distorted it, stretching and reversing it. I guess I wanted to create the auditory equivalent of a kaleidoscope. I’m glad the ominous tone gets through.
The predominant colors in the film are red, green and yellow. I can make some guesses, but was this deliberate in any way?
This was definitely a nod to Veronique and even Amelie, two films that use that color scheme. And both feature curious women fully open to the world and entranced by a stranger. But I also made this on the cusp of spring and summer, and maybe it was the mood I was in, with the greenery and the roses sprouting around me and the warmth of the sun coming out. I also happen to live by that large red building, and after having passed by it for years, I decided to film something there. It just stands out so beautifully against the trees in Portland.
Hmm. Perhaps a portal to an alternate world or a key to other possibilities and perspectives through refractions. In Veronique the protagonists have a habit of holding a glass ball to their eye to see the world upside down and stretched out. Kaleidoscopes are like glass balls, but instead of seeing things upside down, you see things broken into pretty shapes. I liked that idea.
The music has an ominous feel in this short film. Did you work with someone else on the music?
I was thinking about twisted beauty. I stumbled on a track of meditative bells in a royalty free music website. I distorted it, stretching and reversing it. I guess I wanted to create the auditory equivalent of a kaleidoscope. I’m glad the ominous tone gets through.
The predominant colors in the film are red, green and yellow. I can make some guesses, but was this deliberate in any way?
This was definitely a nod to Veronique and even Amelie, two films that use that color scheme. And both feature curious women fully open to the world and entranced by a stranger. But I also made this on the cusp of spring and summer, and maybe it was the mood I was in, with the greenery and the roses sprouting around me and the warmth of the sun coming out. I also happen to live by that large red building, and after having passed by it for years, I decided to film something there. It just stands out so beautifully against the trees in Portland.
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No Fan of Andy, a Short Filmy by Kai Tomizawa (2020)
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Is there someone in the film industry whose work you particularly admire?
I really admire Karyn Kusama, who’s maybe best known for directing Jennifer’s Body, a campy yet earnest – and severely misunderstood - film about best friends, one of whom is possessed by a demon. I admire the visual simplicity with which she tells her stories and how she’s able to tap into the dark and visceral parts of her characters. She’s a very empathetic filmmaker, and I want to be able to, like her, balance that emotional rawness with funny, campy gore.
Will you pursue a full-time career in filmmaking?
I would like to. I’m currently in the film program at NYU Tisch, and after having taken disparate classes and worked on sets in many positions, I’m still not sure what it is I want to do most. I just know I want to be a part of it.
I really admire Karyn Kusama, who’s maybe best known for directing Jennifer’s Body, a campy yet earnest – and severely misunderstood - film about best friends, one of whom is possessed by a demon. I admire the visual simplicity with which she tells her stories and how she’s able to tap into the dark and visceral parts of her characters. She’s a very empathetic filmmaker, and I want to be able to, like her, balance that emotional rawness with funny, campy gore.
Will you pursue a full-time career in filmmaking?
I would like to. I’m currently in the film program at NYU Tisch, and after having taken disparate classes and worked on sets in many positions, I’m still not sure what it is I want to do most. I just know I want to be a part of it.
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Kai Tomizawa
Photo Courtesy: Kai Tomizawa |
