bigriver pRESSKIT - Celluloid Dreams

BIG RIVER
A FILM BY ATSUSHI FUNAHASHI
BIG RIVER
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BANDAI VISUAL TOKYO FM TV ASAHI TOKYO THEATRES AND OFFICE KITANO PRESENT
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
BIG RIVER FILMS
BIG RIVER
A FILM BY ATSUSHI FUNAHASHI
STILLS BY ERIC VAN DEN BRULLE
INTERNATIONAL
SALES
Celluloid Dreams
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PRESS
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info@celluloid-dreams.com
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PRODUCTION
INFORMATION
Title: Big River - Original Title: Big River
A film by Atsushi Funahashi
Starring Joe Odagiri, Kavi Raz, Chloe Snyder
Japan-USA / 2005 / 105min / Colour / 2.35:1 / Dolby SRD / English / Drama
BANDAI VISUAL TOKYO FM TV ASAHI TOKYO THEATRES AND OFFICE KITANO PRESENT IN ASSOCIATION WITH BIG RIVER FILMS
A FILM BY ATSUSHI FUNAHASHI «BIG RIVER» JOE ODAGIRI KAVI RAZ CHLOE SNYDER
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ERIC VAN DEN BRULLE PRODUCTION DESIGN JEFF BERCUME CASTING ALYSSA JO BLACK
COMPOSER JANEK DUSZYNSKI SOUND MIXER SERGIO SANMIGUEL SOUND DESIGNER JUSTIN KAWASHIMA EDITOR STEVE HAMILTON
LINE PRODUCER JILL SCHNEIDER CO-PRODUCERS MOHAMMED NAQVI ALYSSA BLACK PRODUCERS MASAYUKI MORI TAKIO YOSHIDA SHOZO ICHIYAMA
WRITTEN BY ATSUSHI FUNAHASHI AND ERIC VAN DEN BRULLE DIRECTED BY ATSUSHI FUNAHASHI
© 2005 BANDAI VISUAL, TOKYO FM, TV ASAHI, TOKYO THEATRES & OFFICE KITANO
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SYNOPSIS
Soon after he lands in America, Ali, a Muslim man from Pakistan,
begins his search for his estranged wife, Nadia. Picking up
Teppei, a Japanese traveler hitchhiking his way across America,
and Sarah, a local trailer park girl, who help him in his search.
The three of them succeed in finding Nadia, who, to Ali’s dismay,
is living a new life in Phoenix with another man. Anxiously
wondering where his life is leading, Ali decides to spend the rest
of his stay in America with Teppei and Sarah.
In the brief time they are together, the three companions commit
to helping one another. Ali, Teppei, and Sarah begin a new
journey, through the American South west to find their own
individual identities.
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BIG RIVER
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DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Throughout the world, hostility and resentment against the USA on the media has become almost a daily part of life, not
only on TV or in newspapers but also in documentaries and narrative films. The unstoppable chain of violence, contradictory
social issues, conflicting ideologies, never-ending wars,... these are always spoken in the context of the gaps between races,
cultures, and religions. Often it seems that today’s works of cinema perpetuate one side of these conflicts rather than explore
ways to promote understanding of our differences.
Is there anything else cinema can do besides reaffirming the acrimony of our world on celluloid? Rather than describing
human beings in the frame of power politics, cultural clashes, or religious conflicts, there should be films which blur and
subvert those superficial gaps and differences.
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In Monument Valley, Utah, the traditional
homeland of Western movies, three people
from Pakistan, Japan, and a local American
trailer park meet through mishaps and
discover each other’s humanity. The beautiful
landscape of South West -- an eternal
sky spread over solemn & peaceful rock
formations -- produces an abstract cosmos in
which the three people face each other in the
purest manner.
Big River is a metaphor of America. As tiny
currents gather together to become the Rio
Grande, people feed into America from all
over the world. The title also reflects my
aspiration to make a profound but simple film
as the cannon of Western films used to do.
In the eyes of many across the world, America
has reverted to the wild, wild West of its
violent past. People throw suspicious gazes
at each other, judge by appearance, and
eventually attack each other’s beliefs. In this
dark, hostile era is the only option left for us
to live in solitude? Is there something else we
can expect? It is my hope that this film opens
up a new future for our thinking.
PROFILE
Atsushi Funahashi was born in Osaka, Japan and graduated
from Tokyo University with a B.A. in cinema studies. Utilizing his
background cinema criticism, he wrote and directed short films
and documentaries in Tokyo. After receiving a scholarship, he went
to study directing at the NY School of Visual Arts in 1997, where
he made a couple of narrative films. In 1999 he established Village
Productions with Alyssa Jo Black and Eric Van Den Brulle.
His debut feature ECHOES was well-received by critics & film
festivals including three Jury & Audience Awards at Annonay
International Film Festival in France and the High Hope Award at
the Munich International Film Festival. The film was distributed in
the US by Arrow Entertainment and in Japan by Slow Learner, Inc,
Tokyo.
Atsushi has also directed several HDTV documentaries for Japan’s
NHK broadcasting, on social issues and the ethnic culture of New
York City. He was selected by the Japanese Agency of Cultural
Affairs for its 2-year overseas grant program to develop his 2nd
directorial feature Big River. This project was also selected for the
Berlinale Co-Production Market at the Berlin Film Festival and for
the Project Involve, a support program for minority filmmakers by
the Independent Feature Project, New York.
Also as a film critic Atsushi has been enthusiastically writing articles
for Japanese film/art critic magazines such as 10+1, Kinema-Junpo,
and Eureka.
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SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
Documentaries
2003
Jazz on Sundays
On Marjorie Eliot, the great jazz pianist of New
York City’s famed Harlem.
Feature Films
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2005
Big River
2002
Echoes
2002
2002
One Year from the Day - Annual Commemoration
of September 11
After-School Education
On the after-school education in New York’s public
schools.
2002
New Yorkers Comedy Special
On stand-up comedians and the underground comedy-club scene in New York.
2002
New Yorkers Fort Greene Special
Fort Greene, the frontier of gentrification and New York cultural mix.
2002
New Yorkers Broadway Special
Backstage at the Broadway shows.
(NHK, Japan, HDTV documentary, 50 minutes)
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C
A
S
T
C
R
E
W
Teppei Joe Odagiri Ali Kavi Raz Sarah Chloe Snyder
Director Atsushi Funahashi Director of Photography Eric Van Den Brulle Production Design Jeff Bercume Casting Alyssa Jo
Black Composer Janek Duszynski Sound Mixer Sergio Sanmiguel Sound Designer Justin Kawashima Editor Steve Hamilton
Line Producer Jill Schneider Co-producers Mohammed Naqvi & Alyssa Black Producers Masayuki Mori, Takio Yoshida &
Shozo Ichiyama Written by Atsushi Funahashi & Eric Van Den Brulle Production Companies Bandai Visual, Tokyo FM, TV
Asahi, Tokyo Theatres, Office Kitano & Big River Films.
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