Yoshika Nakayama: Painting Memories

2021/02/22

After graduating from Juku, I have been working as a film director, directing music videos, commercials, and movies.

I have loved "video" since I was a child. When I was in the upper grades of elementary school, I used the first mobile phone I ever owned to record videos of my family, relatives, and friends whenever I had free time. At the time, my phone could only record 15 seconds of video, so I enjoyed creating small stories with a punchline within that short duration.

In the summer of my fifth year of elementary school, my beloved grandfather, who was still young, passed away suddenly. My 15-second videos, which captured his casual daily actions, became the last moving images of him while he was alive.

At that moment, I understood why I had been so passionate about filming the people close to me. It was because those moments were exceptionally precious. By recording a person's voice and appearance, I wanted to prove that they and I certainly existed there. Even though his physical form is now gone and confined within a small mobile phone, by playing the video, I can relive not only the sights and sounds, but also the memories, the atmosphere, the skin, the scents... everything. It is not just me, who was actually there, but every viewer who can relive and expand their imagination through the sharing of memories called video. Perhaps that was the beginning of my desire to enter the film industry.

The turning point that led me to aim to be a film director was when I was a member of the drama club for six years in middle and high school. In my third year of university, I wanted to work in film or theater but didn't know how to get involved and was worried about my career path. A film director I respect told me, "Why don't you try filming something yourself?" Because of those words, I am who I am today.

What I keep in mind when creating works is to "not be bound by the trends of the times." I have always liked old things and classic textures. Without intentionally fixing the era, I aim to create videos where the viewer feels "it's new, yet somehow nostalgic," and I am meticulous about every detail, including filming locations, costumes, and art direction.

Another thing is to value personal emotions. Each of us lives our own story, and within that, we are moved by small emotions that cannot be expressed in words. I want to be a director who can carefully depict each of these various stories—memories—that stay close to such personal emotions.