Ningin was able to catch a quick interview with award-winning filmmaker Kimi Takesue. Her latest short film SUSPENDED is screening at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Kimi’s films have screened at over 200 venues around the world, including the Locarno International Film Festival, Rotterdam International, San Diego Asian Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian International, Vancouver International, London’s Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Walker Art Center. Not only that, but her films have also aired on PBS, the Independent Film Channel (IFC), and the Sundance Channel.

SUSPENDED will screen again this Thursday, January 22, 11:30pm at the Library Center Theatre, Park City, Utah, as part of the Sundance US Short Films program.

And now, let’s check in with Kimi at Sundance…

Congratulations on your short film SUSPENDED being accepted into the Sundance Film Festival’s US Short Films category! Will you be making a personal appearance at Sundance?
Yes–I will be at the festival from Thursday, Jan. 16th–Wed. January 21st.

Can you tell us how SUSPENDED came about?
SUSPENDED is a series of observational vignettes that explores people in states of emotional and physical suspension. I had been working on a narrative feature project for some time, that was creatively ready to go, but was not fully financed. I was in a state of limbo, waiting for the financing to come together, but ultimately it was not within my control. In preparation for the feature, I had also been doing some shooting, as a form of research, and I ended up capturing some interesting moments on video. As I looked over the footage, I saw a thematic thread–a lot of the situations dealt with people in states of anticipation—people waiting for something to happen. Ironically, the material reflected my own state of being. So the piece came together in collage-like way; I slowly collected vignettes and stitched them together. In SUSPENDED, I made an intimate piece that I shot, directed, produced and edited. It reaffirmed that I could make a project, requiring little money, and have the advatage of full creative control.

How did you find your subjects for SUSPENDED?
It was a process of spontaneous discovery. I would shoot things as I discovered them, or when I was traveling abroad, or wandering around with my camera, or visting my grandmother in a retirement community! SUSPENDED has scenes shot in New York, Rome and Wichita, Kansas. This piece is special to me because it allowed me to get out tunnel vision on the feature and look at, and re-engage with, the world around me.

You’ve worked on several award-winning films (SUMMER OF THE SERPENT, HEAVEN’S CROSSROAD, ROSEWATER). Each film is very unique from each other. Some are narratives, others experimental or documentaries. Have you found a preferred genre? Do you have a favorite out of your own films?
I enjoy working in different genres–they each present a different set of challenges and rewards. And each film that I’ve made reflects something in my life at a given time period–so it’s difficult to compare them. Many of my films explore different kinds of cross-cultural encounters. SUMMER OF THE SERPENT explores the unlikely bond that develops between two people from different worlds. An eight-year old girl at a local pool is waiting for another lonely summer day to pass when an unexpected pair of Japanese newcomers arrives. Fascinated by the mysterious black-clad woman and her yakuza assistant, the young girl transforms an ordinary day into an imaginative adventure and embarks on a surreal journey of discovery. SUMMER OF THE SERPENT allowed me to work on 35mm film with a professional crew–and with a very special group of actors. For me, it was a sweet and visually rich film that explored summertime, childhood, and daydreams. HEAVEN’S CROSSROAD traced an impressionistic journey through Vietnam and explored ways of seeing cross-culturally. This was intimate piece that explored the rhythms of cross-cultural travel and the communication that occurs allowed of language. Both SUMMER OF THE SERPENT and HEAVEN’S CROSSROAD are distributed by Women Make Movies.

Can you briefly explain Women Make Movies to our unfamiliar readers?
Women Make Movies is a multicultural, multiracial, non-profit media arts organization which facilitates the production, promotion, distribution and exhibition of independent films and videotapes by and about women. The organization provides services to both users and makers of film and video programs, with a special emphasis on supporting work by women of color. Women Make Movies facilitates the development of feminist media through an internationally recognized Distribution Service and a Production Assistance Program.

Will SUSPENDED also be distributed by Women Make Movies after Sundance?
The subject matter of SUSPENDED does not deal directly with women, so it is unlikely that WOMEN MAKE MOVIES will distribute the piece. I’m currently self-distributing SUSPENDED so the best thing to do is contact me by email.

What’s your next project after Sundance?
I am still in the financing process for the narrative feature project I mentioned above. It is a cross-cultural love story inspired by the novel CRAWLING AT NIGHT: A grief-stricken Japanese ice-carver mourning the death of his only daughter makes an unexpected connection with a struggling cabaret singer in New York City. Together they are able to face their painful pasts and rediscover their passion for life and beauty. Ice provides the visual and metaphoric framework to explore their fleeting and ephemereal love affair. Maria Bello and Etsushi Toyokawa (two-time Japanese Academy Award winner) are currently attached to star in the film.