Private Project

Cucumber

Shintaro lives with extreme social withdrawal with little contact to the outside world. One day he receives a homegrown cucumber from the older lady next door, which makes his crippling anxiety falsely convince him that he must reciprocate the gesture. In finding the perfect gift to give back, his past catches up to him, and he now has to confront his fear of connection or stay confined to his own world locked away from everything and everyone.

Cucumber is a dark comedy, inspired by a true story of a hikikomori about wild anxiety-driven overthinking, about discovering the beauty of nature and how a cucumber can turn your life upside down.

  • Harald Furuholmen
    Director
  • Louise Beyer
    Producer
  • Mina Moteki
    Producer
    December (2022)
  • Jonas Bruun
    Producer
  • Naoyuki Miyahara
    Key Cast
    "Shintaro"
  • Kaori Takeshita
    Key Cast
    "Cucumber lady"
  • Petter Moen Jensen
    Director of Photography
    December (2022)
  • Madeline Kinney
    Production Designer
  • Odin Norum Kvistad
    Editor
    Let the River Flow (2023)
  • Magnus Bechmann Hansen
    Composer
  • Shuji Otake
    Sound recordist
  • Emma Linnea Larsen
    Sound design
  • Joachim Møller Nilsen
    Colorist
  • Jan I. B. Stakvik
    Supervising post producer
  • Vinod Vijayasankaran
    1st assistant camera
  • August Hasselquist
    Production design assistant
  • Vidar Hemmingsen
    Re-recording mixer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Agurk
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 47 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 28, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Norway
  • Country of Filming:
    Japan
  • Language:
    Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    Arri Amira Prores 4444
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Harald Furuholmen

Harald Furuholmen was born in 1995 in Bærum, Norway. He started his film career as an actor and art director in the award-winning feature film “Everywhen” in 2011 when he was only 17 years old.
Studying at the European Film College in Denmark and sharpening his skills at the Dffb (The German Film and Television Academy Berlin) he graduated in film directing in 2021.

Harald is a multidisciplinary artist working with writing, directing, art direction, acting and music; creating the score for all of his films.

He has directed four music videos and an array of short films in German, Danish, Norwegian, English and now in Japanese. With deep inspirations from Anime and Asian cinema, but based on a Nordic cinematic vision, Harald creates a blend of international film language that connects drama and comedy, East and West. He is currently shooting a short docu-series on female MMA, making his next short and writing his first feature film.

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Director Statement

After surviving the terrorist attacks on the island Utøya in Norway in 2011, I struggled for years with the consequences. Anxiety, depression and isolation meant that I often closed myself off from the world. Into my room with anime, blankets and security. Sure everyone around me hated me or thought I was a loser.

As an adult, these experiences and the themes have never lost their importance. Because when I needed it the most, it was film that gave me hope that made me able to move on.

With this film I want to convey a dark theme but told with both comedic elements and bloody seriousness. I am self-taught in oral Japanese, and have been doing research on Hikikomori for about three years. A state of life and a group of people I recognize, and an interest that began during the Covid pandemic.

And it was during this period that I stumbled upon Japanese Vosot Ikeidas real life account of recieving a cucumber in the article series titled; "What is Your Job?" which this short film is inspired by.