Private Project

The Independent

One day, a new stage actor Masa was called out from the stage director who imposed a steep quota for stage ticket sales. If the quota isn’t met, Masa will have to buy the left over tickets by himself. Masa was depressed and beyond any hope of selling the tickets when his phone rang. The call was from the Café owner Nori, the lady who Masa had great affection for. Nori asked Masa if he could come over to the café today. Masa happily accepted the invitation headed to the café .
At the café, Masa met an elderly man who seemed drunk. The man told Masa that he is interested in watching his stage. Masa tried to talk the man into buying the stage ticket, but there was obviously a gap in their communication.
Then a policeman came to the café and suspected Masa was the prowler he is looking for.

  • Lisa Kimura
    Director
  • Tomoko Shiraki
    Writer
  • Lisa Kimura
    Producer
  • Kotaro Hayashi
    Key Cast
  • Mahiru
    Key Cast
  • Hikohiko Sugiyama
    Key Cast
  • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    The Independent
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Fantasy
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 20, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    1,000,000 JPY
  • Country of Origin:
    Japan
  • Country of Filming:
    Japan
  • Language:
    Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Forest Movie Festival
    Yamanashi, Japan
    October 3, 2015
    Japan Premiere
  • Kyoto International Film Festival
    Kyoto
    Japan
    Offitial Selection
  • Canada International Film Cestival

    Offitial Selection
Director Biography - Lisa Kimura

Lisa Kimura – Born in 1985, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Began making Story Films from age 16.
Studied cinematography at Nihon University of Art, and majored in Cinema Directing.

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Director Statement

I like movies where audience are betrayed.
Movies that seem to betray you while you empathize with the main character or other people.
Movies about spies and scammers are such movies, but they rather rare in Japan.
Spies and scammers are not jobs that Japanese people can relate to.
So what jobs can take their place?
“Actor”, a job that plays other people’s lives, came to my mind.
I hope you see “The Independent” as a movie that “betrays the audience”.
I would be happy if you think so.
Please feel free to give me your feedback.