Hikari, a Japanese filmmaker, has made a new movie entitled Rent Familywhich reflects her experience as she moved to the United States at the age of 17.
When it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, the director shares: “I came to America when I was 17 for the first time and I landed in Utah.”
She goes on, “It was my first place to learn English. I was the only Asian girl in the whole city, I felt like …. I had to learn English and I had to learn the culture.”
So for the movie, says Hikari, she imagines her experience by swapping herself with an American in Japanese society.
“So for me to bring someone – American guy – to Tokyo, what does it look like? Because there are a lot of things you learn when you are the only person in the room,” notes the instructor.
Brendan Fraser, who plays in the film, remembers discussing the film’s idea with the filmmaker Hikari.
“I learned about her life, about her ambitions, her interests, her unique experience of coming to America, and what it meant about the family we find and it is not necessarily the one we were born in sometimes,” The mummy Stars add.
He remembers, “I was confused and mystified and refreshed in all the best possible ways to meet Hikari. And then …”
“Hi, I knew this story was unique. It’s something we need to look at screen,” Brendan concludes. “And correct me if I’m wrong, I think we’ve got to watch this movie now more than ever these days.”
The film’s Logline reads that an American actor is going to Japan hoping to secure his big break. After it does not work, he takes a job with an agency hiring actors to perform stand-in roles for their clients. “
Rent Family Arches in cinemas on November 21st.
