Private Project

schoolgirl

There is a freshman girl (Anna Hattori), who is in love with a "Senpai”(a senior boy). But she is too shy to get close to him, because she has a condition that she is deaf and she doesn’t want him to know about it. She keeps this secret about herself, and she gives a letter to him and they start exchanging letters with each other. She is very shy and cannot speak in real life. But she is very creative and has a fertile imagination. She can express herself through letters and she feels free. But he realizes she is deaf later on..... Can people reach out to each other without the sound of voices? And can imagination make a life rich even if you have a disability?

  • Hiroyuki Oda
    Director
  • Hiroyuki Oda
    Writer
  • Hiroyuki Oda
    Producer
  • Anna Hattori
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Romance, Disability
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 21 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 30, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    500,000 JPY
  • Country of Origin:
    Japan
  • Country of Filming:
    France
  • Language:
    Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • The Buddha International Film Festival
    Pune
    India
    June 10, 2017
    India premiere
    Best Screenplay
  • Caribbean Film Festival & Market
    Freeport
    Bahamas
    June 12, 2017
    Bahamas
    Semi-Finalist
  • Chaktomuk Short Film Festival
    Phnom Penh
    Cambodia
    October 25, 2017
    Cambodia
    Official Selection
  • WorldFest Houston
    Houston
    United States
    May 6, 2018
    North America
    Winner Platinum Remi Award
Director Biography - Hiroyuki Oda

“Hiroyuki Oda” was born on November 4th, 1972 in Tokyo. After studying History at University in Tokyo, he packed his bags and moved to London and lived there for 4 years. Then he decided to move to LA and spent 2 years there.
After returning to Tokyo, he studied at “The Film School of Tokyo”, where Kiyoshi Kurosawa taught and also studied photography under Masato Seto. H.Oda is also a high school teacher and teaches a film studies class at a high school in Japan with director, Nobuhiro Suwa.
H.Oda has worked as a film director on a variety of productions and has held solo exhibitions as a photographer.

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Director Statement

I made a film “une élève(Schoolgirl)” with my student of "Konan High School" where I worked as a teacher. This film project started as a part of an educational project as an out of class creative activity. All students had no acting experience. The film, “une élève(Schoolgirl)” is a film work made by a regular school teacher and his students. And “une élève(Schoolgirl)” is also a homage to legendary Japanese writer, Osamu Dazai’s “Joseito” (However, it has nothing to do with the story).