自転車→干し柿→… 蝉？

What’s with this project?

Cicada is the first feature-length film from Biola University’s Cinema & Media Arts program! In the past, professor Dean Yamada has traveled with students to Tokyo and Berlin to shoot a series of short films. Armed with Biola’s RED One (the same camera used to shoot The Social Network and The Book of Eli) and a crew of highly motivated, super talented students, they are planning to take this proven model and shoot a feature-length film. A handful of film schools across the country have tackled this endeavor, and a few up and coming film schools are headed in this direction. The RED One has leveled the playing field amongst film programs across the nation because it has allowed even the smallest programs to attain beautiful images that were only reserved for 35mm film stock less than a decade ago.

What is Cicada about?

Cicada is the story of Junpei-- a man who loses sight of his future when he finds out he is infertile, but then is given the gift of clairvoyance and begins to see glimpses of the future. These glimpses lead him to a series of cicada shells, which are symbolic of his desire to shed his old self. Though his lineage ends with himself, Junpei starts anew as a father-figure to his sister’s young son. As with Jitensha and Persimmon, there is a depth and humor to Yu Shibuya’s writing, which gives the piece multiple layers. Our goal is to create a film that will bring hope to a country still shaken by the earthquake last March and to create a world that is free of tsunamis.

Who is on-board?

The film will reunite director Dean Yamada with writer Yu Shibuya, actor Yugo Saso and composer Dana Niu of Jitensha and Persimmon. The film will also potentially star Masayuki Yui (Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams and Ran) and Ayako Fujitani (Michel Gondry’s Tokyo!).

=NEW UPDATE=

Shunji Iwai, an iconic Japanese director who most recently had a feature at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, has agreed to be the executive producer on Cicada. The Cicada team in Japan is extremely excited about this news because of the potential doors it will open for the film. Dean met Shunji Iwai because he was on the jury of the Sapporo Short Fest, where Jitensha won the Grand Prix. He's a big fan of the film and we are all excited to have him on board!

What will the funds go towards?

Making a feature film can be an expensive endeavor, especially when traveling overseas. Though the students are paying their own way to Tokyo, we need to pay for equipment rentals, production design, craft services as well as location and actors’ fees. We believe we can make a feature film with very little money without losing quality in the vein of Jitensha and Persimmon. Your donation will go a long way to helping us accomplish this goal.

Director’s Statement:

In 2009, I made a film called Jitensha (Bicycle), which premiered internationally at the 66th Venice Film Festival. This was significant for me because it was shot on a low-grade HD camera with a class of undergraduate students at Biola University. It proved two things: 1) story is king and 2) what we are doing at Biola is special. Jitensha (Bicycle) went on to win major awards at the Heartland Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and the Sapporo Short Fest and screen at some of the biggest festivals in the world, including the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, Palm Springs Shorts Fest and Florida Film Festival. I subsequently made two more films with my students—Persimmon, which was shot in Japan, and East of Berlin, which was shot in Germany. With the incredibly gifted writing of Yu Shibuya, the beautifully resonant acting of Yugo Saso, and the deeply moving music of Dana Niu, I believe that we can take this model of shooting low budget, character-driven films, using passionate undergraduate students as crew, and create something significant. Please join us as we embark on the incredible journey of making our first feature film. We desperately need your support to accomplish the daunting task of turning this dream into a reality.

Sincerely,

Dean Yamada

Please visit KickStarter's Cicada project home!!