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Japan's indie film industry
reeling
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO - A load fell off the shoulders of Kaoru
Ikeya, a documentary maker for more than 20 years, when
Japan's public broadcasting company, NHK, agreed to
sponsor his documentary on China's Cultural Revolution,
Daughter from Yan'an, for its release in
November.
"I had spent close to five years on
the documentary and had to take an enormous gamble,"
said Ikeya of the film that focuses on the woman's
search for her birth parents, former Red Guards who had
abandoned her on the day she was born. "Japan just does
not nurture small filmmakers like most other countries
do," said Ikeda, who heads Ren Universe Inc, a
production company.
It is no secret that Japan's
independent film industry is at a crossroads. There are
52 production companies registered with the Japan
Filmmakers Association, but the actual number is
estimated to be more than double. But young Japanese
directors face a difficult situation, facing a lack of
capital in an investor environment that shuns
risk-taking. This, in turn, leads to a film market that
is increasing relying on proven sequels, remakes, or
films based on popular manga cartoons and
television dramas.
The economic recession has
contributed to the gloomy picture. Directors are finding
it almost impossible to secure loans because banks are
saddled with debt and lack experience in film financing.
"The heyday of Japanese movies is gone,"
lamented Seiya Araki, head of the Japan Filmmakers
Association, a conglomeration of independent filmmakers.
"Gone are the days of big names such as [Akira]
Kurosawa, who won international recognition as artistic
directors in the '60s. Today, the [Japanese film
industry] is bogged down with bland, predictable
productions that play second fiddle to Hollywood."
Indeed, the Japanese film industry used to churn
out more than 65 percent of annual film releases, but
this has now dwindled to 30 percent. Japanese released
peaked at close to 500 on the average in the 1960s, but
has fallen to 293 releases a year these days.
Last year, the best Japanese releases were two
animation films, Nekko Onagieshi, the antics of a
cute cat, and Meitantai Konan, based on a
best-selling serial manga about a boy detective.
Both movies were productions of Toho, the Japanese movie
mogul.
Most Japanese productions are
collaborations between five large companies and the big
television networks, and this makes for a combination
too powerful for smaller production companies to compete
with.
Even the much-applauded entry of famed
independent actor-cum-director Takeshi Kitano, who
walked away with the Silver Lion Award on September 6
for his entry Zatoichi, has not ushered in the
long-awaited breakthrough.
"Kitano is too
powerful," said Ikeya. "He has earned a name for himself
as an actor, director and has connections to television
and top movie companies. That's not the same with
smaller producers."
Small producers are in a
market where they survive by making movies for big
companies - usually highly commercial productions - or
grit their teeth and make a low-budget movie, settling
for exhibiting in small theaters and fewer screenings.
For example, Robot Communications, an
independent company, won fame for producing the current
blockbuster Bayside Shakedown 11, a live-action
movie, for Toho. The film, featuring heartthrob Yuji
Oda, has already reached a record at the box office,
with US$125 million in sales since its release on July
19.
There are of course some exceptions to the
rule, such the huge success of the 1996 release Shall
We Dance, a slick $40 million production about the
dancing skills of an ordinary company employee. This was
produced by new director Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who was
supported by giant distributor, Nippon Television
Network. But, as critics point out, that kind of
breakthrough was as far back as eight years ago,
underscoring the dilemma faced by small filmmakers.
After lengthy discussions, the Agency for
Cultural Affairs established a set of 12 new regulations
this year geared to revitalize the movie industry. A
budget of $22 million has been earmarked for the new
program. It aims at improving national assistance for
young directors by way of money and training as well as
promoting their movies overseas by setting up booths at
international film festivals such as Berlin and Cannes.
"The revisions will help independent films. One
way is to help them to exhibit in major film festivals
by extending financial assistance to pay for fees such
as translation," said Hiroshi Handa of the Cultural
Agency.
Kanako Hayashi, director of Tokyo Film
Ex, a company that organizes a quality film festival
each November, explains that the reforms are badly
needed.
"The audience is changing and young
directors with good ideas have a chance," she pointed
out. "More support for new talent can help to protect
the originality of their productions, an important
concern for independent filmmakers," she said.
Film critics warn, however, that too much
subsidies make independent producers lazy and not put
enough effort into market research to make their films
entertaining and ensuring high quality.
Araki
also said that providing grants is not the only
solution. Japan must tackle a market that is overtly
controlled by the big producers and encourage
risk-taking for a revival of the industry, he said.
(Inter Press Service)
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