November 18, 2021

Alumni Spotlight: Kai Tomizawa

Our Interview with Kai:

You were awarded the NextFilmFestival award from Station|Next at NFFTY 2020 for your film NO FAN OF ANDY, and received the opportunity to travel to the NextFilmFestival in Denmark this year! What was that experience like?

It was mind-blowing, for sure. I think that I was kind of in shock, at having made this thing [the film] during the summer with my friends, and then it taking me to Denmark of all places. I was really excited to have this experience in another country, especially after being home for like, a year and a half. And it was an amazing experience. Going to Denmark, and getting to meet young filmmakers, not just Danish filmmakers, but filmmakers from many different countries. It was nerve-wracking at first, because I thought that because we come from all these difference places that we’d have nothing to talk about - but our love of filmmaking made it so that we all just bonded immediately. I feel like I could walk away from that experience having not just friends in many different places, but future collaborators too.

You went on to receive the Best International Script & International Audience Award at the NextFilmFestival. Congratulations! Was that something were expecting?

I was not expecting that at all. When I saw my film on the screen in front of everyone else… It’s been two years since I made it, so watching it I felt a little more removed from it than I probably would have felt if quarantine hadn’t happened. And, winning that award, it kind of got rid of a lot of imposter syndrome I think I was feeling that whole time, and it made me feel like I was deserving of being able to go and meet all these amazing people I was able to meet and work with.

What has it been like receiving so much acclaim for NO FAN OF ANDY?

It’s been really amazing, and surprising too! It’s been a weird contrast of being at home and seeing the film travel across the country and now across the world. And, even though it’s a little bit sad that a lot of film festivals have moved online for the past year, the ability to move online has made it possible to connect with people who I probably wouldn’t have been able to fly out and meet in “normal” times.

What has it been like traveling during this weird time?

There was a lot more hoops to jump through, there were a lot more barriers. But it was just this eye-opening experience, after the world had gotten so small for a year, to realize “oh wow, there’s so much more out there.”

Where did you get the inspiration to make NO FAN OF ANDY?

This particular film came from a lot of different places of inspiration. One of the first versions of this film didn’t involve a bird - it actually involved a boyfriend. The terrible part of me was reflected in Raine, which is this jealous friend. I was actually talking about this with some people from Denmark who’d asked me about this, and after having two years of distance from this film, and coming back to watch it, I realized that it was the young version of me speaking in a way that I didn’t know how to express. When I was coming up with the idea for that film, I had just had this really intense friendship that had fallen apart, and I felt like everything was my fault. And so, I expressed it through a comical lens, and dealing with my own guilt of feeling like I had ruined my friendship, and then just tightening everything to try to gain some sense of control over the situation. It’s a little bit of a queer story, in a way that I didn’t even realize as I made it. It was this feeling of when you have a friendship that you put everything into, and I didn’t realize that I was in love with somebody, and it ended up coming out in the worst parts of me.

In addition to this being what sounds like a really personal story, you also wrote, directed, edited and acted in the film! What was your favorite part of that whole process? What was the most challenging? 

My favorite part was definitely the editing. It was gratifying to have the bulk of the work behind me, and to just get to piece everything together. I think the production was really difficult because I would set something up, and then look at the monitor, and jump back in front of it, and act, and try to direct other people while also feeling intensely insecure about my own acting… But also having that experience - it was one of the first films I had ever made - it allowed everyone who was on set to bond through our shared uncertainty, and our shared inexperience. It was just a very organic process of trying things, and looking at the edit and realizing nothing worked, and going back... It was just kind of that trial and error process. The editing was where a lot of the fears of feeling like the story didn’t make sense at all - I was able to either affirm those fears and then go back and change it, or work those things so that it finally did work!

You’ve talked about being a self-taught filmmaker, and it sounds like making this film was definitely a part of that learning process. What other resources or processes did you find most useful in your self-education?

I think at that point in time I had had very, very little film education. I really relied on YouTube, and on just playing around and creating really small things - telling myself that every process was just my own DIY film school. And then, really recently, over quarantine, I was able to take a workshop at the San Francisco Art + Film, virtually. And that gave me a very different perspective on film that the YouTube gear videos couldn’t really teach me, and exposed me to a lot more classic films, and things that I would not normally have just come across in my Netflix scrolling.

What advice do you have for other young filmmakers who are looking to learn at their own pace, or who don’t have access to, or don’t want, a formal film education?

I would say, just go out and make something! I think a lot of people wait to feel like they’re ready to do something, but gear is really accessible - you have your phone, and your camera on your phone. In quarantine I’ve just been making lots of little films on my phone. And you don’t have to create a fantastical plot - you can just play around with one idea and then create a solid idea you want to convey and just do it.

How has NFFTY impacted your life or career?

I have met a lot of people, through NFFTY. Maybe not in the conventional way, where you’d meet people during the in-person festival… But through the experience in Denmark, for example, I got to travel with Brendan Hickey - who was a part of NFFTY, and who’s been a part of NFFTY - and we got to know each other really well. I’ve also reconnected with people who I met through other film avenues, such as YoungArts, and then realized that they were a part of NFFTY, and then make other connections through them. So I think that even though I wasn’t a part of the in-person program that NFFTY usually hosts, just having that connection as a part of the NFFTY “family”, you can meet so many people. I think that because everyone is so connected already, if you just know one or two people, they are so excited about welcoming you in. I think the community is just so welcoming and excited about getting people connected - it’s great.

What’s next for you? Anything we should be on the lookout for?

I’m applying to colleges right now! So I’m doing a lot of that, and making some short films for my applications. Hopefully I’m going to get to show those projects to the world!