Private Project

GMT+9

Saki and Maki, two Japanese women, moved from Japan to Berlin to escape societal pressure and start living together as a couple. However, tensions arise in the German capital. While Maki quickly finds her place in the multicultural scene, Saki tries to keep their relationship and relocation a secret. Through video calls with her mother and remote work, she pretends to be living in Tokyo. Their relationship is tested when Saki takes on a new job as a so-called “chat lady” on a Japanese website, entertaining a straight male audience. The two women's rhythm of life diverges and their different social backgrounds become more and more apparent. As Maki finds support and acceptance from her family, Saki feels increasingly isolated, questioning her purpose to be in Germany. The ideals of openness and freedom are increasingly doubted. Berlin is not the desired haven, and the hoped-for freedom turns out to be an entry into a fierce economy of self-assertion.

  • Jonas Beile
    Director
  • Sugano Matsusaki
    Director
  • Jonas Beile
    Writer
  • Sugano Matsusaki
    Writer
  • Jonas Beile
    Producer
  • Sugano Matsusaki
    Producer
  • Yui Fukami
    Key Cast
    "Saki"
  • Ayane Kondo
    Key Cast
    "Maki"
  • Yoriko Yanagisawa
    Key Cast
    "Mother"
  • Miyoko Ota
    Key Cast
    "Akane"
  • Tomoki Tsukada
    Key Cast
  • Kenji Minami
    Key Cast
    "Kenji Nishi"
  • Berkay Soykan
    Key Cast
  • Zoe Marquedant
    Key Cast
  • Ndjarimbi Taghan
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, Romance, Fiction
  • Runtime:
    29 minutes 13 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 22, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    9,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, 4k, Stereo
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of the Arts Berlin
  • Rainbow Reel Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    July 17, 2023
    World Premiere
    1st Price / Grand Prix of the Short Film Competition (Audience Award)
  • Kansai Queer Film Festival
    Osaka, Kyoto
    Japan
    September 16, 2023
Director Biography - Jonas Beile, Sugano Matsusaki

Sugano Matsusaki was born in Okinawa, Japan.
She graduated from Keio University in Japan (Sociology) in 2015 and graduated from University of the Arts Berlin (Fine Art) as a Master of Fine Arts in 2022. She currently lives and works in Berlin.
In her practice, she examines fictional stories based on field research, interviews, and experiments. Building upon these anonymous biographies, she creates a mosaic of individual experiences with a focus on language, intersectional identity, gender, migration, work, and body. In her films, video installations, and texts, fictionality takes center stage to provide a safe space for the interviewees to speak about themselves and amplify their hidden voices. However, the work also contains a solid texture of documentary by incorporating the actual role of the actors in their real lives and her own improvisation method into the working process. The fragments of different stories and loosely interconnected realities evoke a déjà vu in the viewer, reminding them of their own experiences and social roles.

Jonas Beile is a multidisciplinary artist. He is interested in the transformations of digital capitalism, especially in the field of labour and social relations. He often uses the infrastructure of virtual platforms as a playing field for his interventions and stagings. His video works aim to challenge the boundaries between documentary and fiction.
Jonas Beile studied media art and philosophy at the University of Art and Design in Karlsruhe. He lives and works in Berlin.

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Director Statement

We work mainly in the media of film and video art installations. Our common practice involves the development of fictional stories which are based on field research, interviews and experimentation.
We are interested in narratives about labour, identity, gender and language in contemporary society and within the digital infrastructure. We believe that these global and universal issues can resonate well in individual and locally rooted stories. We want to make the unfamiliar and strange appear in a familiar horizon.