Experiencing Interruptions?

LET IT BE: BLOOM

《Overview》
This film was conceived and produced by Misaki Mizumura, an actor. With a desire to create a film that could encourage women to pursue their dreams, the theme revolves around the challenges of balancing motherhood and dreams, and depicts the struggles of women who continue to chase their dreams while discovering hope without giving up. Yukiko's character serves as a representative, showcasing the difficulty of letting go of dreams even after becoming a mother, despite the lack of understanding from her unsupportive husband and mother-in-law. What is it that gave Yukiko hope?

《Synopsis》
Yukiko, the protagonist, balances her role as a mother with her unyielding dream of becoming an actress. However, she struggles to stand up against her unsupportive husband and mother-in-law who dismiss her dreams. Is it forbidden for a mother to have dreams? What is it that saves Yukiko from this predicament?

  • Yurugu Matsumoto
    Director
  • Yoshika Kuwae
    Writer
  • Misaki Mizumura
    Producer
  • Misaki MIzumura
    Key Cast
    "Yukiko Kamijo"
  • Tomoyuki Sato
    Key Cast
    "Yusuke Kamijo"
  • Satomi Yagihashi
    Key Cast
    "Tomomi Taguchi"
  • Yoko Matsuda
    Key Cast
    "Kiyomi Kamijo"
  • IROHA
    Key Cast
    "Aina Kamijo"
  • Eita Kinoshita
    Key Cast
    "Souta Izumi"
  • Rita Yamagishi
    Key Cast
    "Kaori Taguchi"
  • Nobutoshi Yasuoka
    Key Cast
    "Ippei Kondo"
  • Remi Tyon
    Key Cast
    "Mina Asai"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    ARINOMAMADESAKE
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    29 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    1,200,000 JPY
  • Country of Origin:
    Japan
  • Country of Filming:
    Japan
  • Language:
    Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital,4K,Panasonic LUMIX
  • Aspect Ratio:
    Cinema Scope
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Yurugu Matsumoto

<Biography>
Born 1969, Tachikawa City, Tokyo, Japan. In the 1990s, Matsumoto started making his own 8mm films while a student at the Image Forum Institute of the Moving Image. He later began working as a freelance assistant director in commercial, studio filmmaking and served under such directors as Takashi Ishii, Takashi Yamazaki, Yoshihiro Nakamura, Hitoshi Yazaki, Banmei Takahashi, and Shinsuke Sato. His last film as assistant director was Nobuhiko Obayashi's HANAGATAMI. Now, Matsumoto focuses on directing his own work, mainly documentary TV dramas, as well as his passion for independent shorts. Many of Matsumoto's shorts have been nominated and won awards at numerous film festivals. PAY PHONE won the Japan Competition Best Actor Award at Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2018, which is an Academy Awards accredited festival and one of the biggest short film festivals in Asia. The film also won Best Narrative Short at Kansas City FilmFest International 2020, a festival with a quarter-century of history. It has been screened at over sixty national and international film festivals, winning 20 awards. including five Grands Prix. Cassette Tape, the sequel to PAY PHONE, premiered at the 6th Hachioji Short Film Festival where it won both the Grand Prix and Audience Award. After that, it won Grand Prix and Best Actress at the 23rd Yokohama Visual Entertainment Festival, making Matsumoto the very first director to win Grands Prix there four years in a row.

From pop idol vehicles to socially aware melodramas, Matsumoto has directed a wide range of film productions. His VIRGIN BREEZE, a short he wrote and directed for the Japanese pop idol girl band Nogizaka 46, won significant critical acclaim. Meanwhile, Matsumoto's feature-length TALKING TO THE STARRY SKY is based on the true stories of people with disabilities and their supporters and sheds light on their forgotten experiences following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The movie won an encouragement award from the highly authoritative 37th Japan Film Revitalization Committee.

Matsumoto's screenplay for TSUREZURE was nominated in the synopsis competition at the 3rd MPA／DHU Film Workshop. Carlos Saldanha (known for his Ice Age: The Meltdown, Rio, etc.) highly commended it. The same project also advanced to the final stage at the Sundance Institute/NHK Award 2017, where it was selected as one of the top nine screenplays.

In his hometown of Tachikawa City, Matsumoto actively contributes to film culture as a teacher in his local "Moviemaking Workshop" and as a judge for the Tachikawa Meigazadori Cinema Festival.

<Filmography>
AZUSA (1992), CRIMSON TEARS (1993), OPEN TO VISITORS (1993), MIX (2015), GACHA GACHA (2016), VIRGIN BREEZE (2017), PAY PHONE (2019), CASSETTE TAPE (2019), Talking to the Starry Sky (2019), PALETTE (2020), 2020 Tokyo 12 Actors (2021),First Love(2022)

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