Angel Films præsenterer

Kontakt: Peter Sølvsten Thomsen, [email protected]

Premiere: 25. februar

Længde: 120 Minutter

Censur: Tilladt for alle, men frarådes børn under 7 år

Instruktør:

Premierebiografer: CinemaxX København, CinemaxX Odense, CinemaxX Århus, Empire Bio, Grand Teatret, Vester Vov Vov, Øst for Paradis, Cafe Biografen Odense, Biffen Aalborg, Valby Kino, Kulturbiografen Frysehuset Holbæk, Palads 1-2-3 Frederikshavn, Baltoppen Bio, Rødding Bio, Bibliografen, Atlas Biograferne i Rødovre, Humle Bio, Nicolai Biograf & Cafe m.fl.

Synopsis: Den sidste gang den 11-årige pige Momo så sin far, havde de et skænderi. Nu er alt hun har tilbage fra ham et ufuldendt brev, der begynder med ordene “Kære Momo”. I søgen efter en ny start på tilværelsen flytter Momo og hendes mor ud på en ø, langt væk fra storbyen Tokyo hvor de før boede. Momo har svært ved at falde til i sit nye hjem, og hvad værre er, finder hun ud af, at loftet er beboet af tre Yokaier - magiske åndeskabninger som kun hun kan se. De tre væsener både larmer og stjæler, og Momo ønsker mest af alt, at de vil lade hende være i fred. Det viser sig dog, at de sjove monstre gemmer på en hemmelighed, som kan hjælpe Momo med at finde frem til, hvad hendes far forsøgte at fortælle hende i brevet.

BREVET TIL MOMO er en del af børnefilmkonceptet RABALDER BIO.

Læs mere på www.rabalderbio.dk

Udvidet pressematerial kan downloades fra Angel Films hjemmeside: www.angelfilms.dk

Kontakt: Peter Sølvsten Thomsen, [email protected]

INDEX

Festival History

Awards and Recognitions

What the World Said

Interview with Hiroyuki Okiura

Production Notes

Staff Profiles

FESTIVAL HISTORY

34th Toronto International 2011 / World Premiere

27th Warsaw International Film Festival 2011 / International Competition European Premiere

44th SITGES International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia 2011 / Official Fantastic

Competition / Spanish Premiere

31st Hawaii International Film Festival 2011 / Golden Orchid Award Nominee / USA Premiere

16th Busan International Film Festival 2011 / Official Selection / Asian Premiere

8th Dubai International Film Festival 2011 / Official Selection / Middle Eastern Premiere

15th New York International Children’s Film Festival (2012) / Continental North American Premiere

14th Future Film Festival (2012) / Italian Premiere

11th AniFest 2012 / Feature Film Competition / Czech Premiere

19th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film / AniMovie Competition / German Premiere

36th Annecy International Animation Film Festival / Official Selection / French Premiere

16th Fantasia Film Festival / Official Selection

60th Melbourne International Film Festival / Official Selection

20th Tokyo Kinder Film Festival / Kinder Jury’s Grand Prize and International Jury’s Special Prize

14th Buster - Copenhagen International Film Festival for Children and Youth / Official Selection 25th Helsinki International Film Festival / Official Selection

22nd Oslo International Film Festival / Official Selection

36th Gőteborg International Film Festival / Official Selection

32nd Anima - International Animation Film Festival of Brussels / Feature Film Competition

12th Monstra - Lisbon Animated Film Festival / Feature Film Competition

12th Nueva Mirada 2013 / Animated Feature Film Competition

30th Chicago International Children's Film Festival 2013 / Animated Feature Film Competition

RECOGNITIONS

Excellence Prize, Animation Division, 15th Media Arts Festival (2011).

Grand Prize for Best Feature Film, 15th New York International Children’s Film Festival

Platinum Grand Prize, 14th Future Film Festival (2012)

Best Feature Film Prize, 11th AniFest (2012)

Public Prize for Best Animated Feature Film, 16th Fantasia Film Festival

Kinder Jury’s Grand Prize and International Jury’s Special Prize, 20th Tokyo Kinder Film Festival

Best Animated Feature Film, 6th annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSAs 2012)

Jury Prize, 8th Mon Premier Festival Paris (2012)

Prize of Excellence, Animation Category / 36th Japan Academy Prizes (2012)

Jury’s Special Mention, Animated Feature Film Category / 12th Nueva Mirada 2013

2nd Children Jury's Prize, Animated Feature Film Category / 30th Chicago International Children's Film Festival (2013)

41st Nominee (2014)

WHAT THE WORLD SAID

"Seven years in the making, is a triumph of traditional hand-drawn animation. [...] A sensitive coming-of-age story that deals with loss and imagination." (Toronto International Film Festival)

"This beautifully crafted work [...] is a true labor of love. A Letter to Momo is a story about overcoming loss, but moreover it is a tale about growing up and finding yourself. This film is bound to delight both adults and children alike." (Anna Page, HIFF 2011)

"Hiroyuki Okiura needed seven years to complete this incredibly beautiful, handmade animated story, but I can assure you it was worth the wait." (Angel Sala, Director, Sitges)

As gorgeous as A Letter to Momo is to behold, the film's sensitive portrayal of a teenager dealing with grief proves its most compelling element. [...] Okiura is so finely attuned to capturing the girl's experience in an authentic way that A Letter to Momo seems as likely to interest child psychologists as it is to entertain actual children.

With its complex characterizations and multiple storylines, [A Letter to Momo] rivals mature live- action drama. Even so, the animation medium is essential to its unique surreal touches - especially the stunning climactic sequence, which rivals even "” [...]. (Peter Debruge, Variety)

A compelling coming-of-age story dealing with important themes such as loss and sense of guilt, but unconventionally elaborated through humour-filled and heart-moving narrative paths, and featuring a visually essential and meticulously accurate animation rendering. (Future Film Festival’s Jury)

A visual feast that also provides both hilarious comedy and moments of well-developed drama to create what will surely become an movie classic. 9/10. (Andy Hanley, UK Anime Network)

A Letter to Momo is a wonderfully expressive and beautifully hand drawn tale that combines bursts of whimsy and kinetic humor with deep felt emotion and drama. The animation is superb throughout, from the painstakingly rendered serenity of the island’s Shinto shrines to the climactic finale – a frantic chase featuring thousands of squirming, morphing ghosts and goblins that is the best flight of supernatural fancy since Spirited Away. (New York International Children’s Film Festival)

Tremendously enjoyable and surprisingly realistic. (Hong Kong International Film Festival)

The story of Momo, a girl who’s moving from Tokyo to an island with her mother after the death of her father is a brilliant example of classic hand-drawn animation and presents the best in contemporary anime production. Momo meets mysterious little elves on the island and they help her overcome the loss and find out, what the letter to Momo was supossed to say…a moving story about grief, great loss, growing up and finding your own self is full of imagination, sometimes scary, sometimes black-humoured or even absurd. The screening in Teplice might be a unique chance to see it on the big screen – a must-see not just for all anime-fans. (AniFest 2012)

Hiroyuki Okiura invested seven years in crafting A Letter to Momo, enlisting the finest talent in Japanese animation for this madly ambitious project in which every frame is hand-drawn, with an absolute minimum of digital effects. The resulting beauty and visual richness is nothing short of enchanting - a true work of art! Okiura, however, isn’t content to offer a technically accomplished film, and he has invested Momo with a storyline that’s both funny and fascinating, peopled with finely honed, complex characters. The worldly and the wondrous walk hand in hand here, and in this respect A Letter to Momo evokes the milestone moments is ’s filmography, favourably comparable to the family classic My Neighbor Totoro by the legendary . Lively and amusing enough for youngsters and marked by mature themes that will impress the fussiest cinephile, A Letter to Momo isn’t just of the most remarkable animated films of recent vintage, it’s among the best films of any stripe you’ll see in 2012. (Nicolas Archambault, Fantasia 2012)

Seamless in both the storytelling and rendering... an excellent film. (Minhee Bae, The Film Stage)

Manages to capture all the essence of the best Ghibli movies. (Guillem Rosset, Twitchfilm)

Avec un grand soin apporté à son univers visuel, ses dialogues et ses enchaînements, cet anime simple et lumineux enchante. (Sandrine Marques, Le Monde)

Le scénario, tout en mélancolie (...) laisse (...) place à l'humour, et apporte beaucoup de chaleur aux personnages très attachants pleuplant ce joli conte. (Yann Lebecque, L’Ecran Fantastique)

Hiroyuki Okiura revient avec une fiction sensible et visuellement étonnante. (Gérard Delorme, Première)

Le réalisateur met l’accent sur la psychologie de la jeune fille mais aussi sur les paysages sublimes de la mer intérieure de Seto tout en offrant des moments de sourire bienvenus grâce à la présence des yokais. (...) Une œuvre totalement maîtrisée mêlant les genres et les émotions pour nous emporter. (Caroline Vié, 20 minutes) Hiroyuki Okiura Interview + Press Material

1) As a young boy, did you like going to the movies? Do you remember your first love for film? And what kind of movies did you like, were there animation films?

There were not cinemas in my neighborhood when I was a child, so until I was a middle schooler, my only chance to watch movies was either at school or at home on TV. I clearly remember that during holyday seasons, I used to watch the animated feature films that were aired on TV in the morning, like Taiyo no Oji Hols (Hols: Prince of the Sun, 1968), Nagagutsu o haita neko (Puss in Boots, 1969), Dobutsu Takarajima (Animal Treasure Island, 1971) and so on.

2) What is your relationship with the Production I.G?

I think the first time I worked with I.G was back in the 80s, when Mr. Ishikawa asked me to join a project called Zillion. I think he knew about me from Kazuchika Kise (NOTE: today Kise is regarded as one of Japan’s top five animators, known for his work in 2, , Innocence, Blood the Last Vampire) as Kise and I used to work at the same studio in Osaka, Anime R. After that, I worked in the two Patlabor movies, but I believe that working on I.G’s projects became prevalent from Ghost in the Shell (1995). At the time I wasn’t so much involved with I.G, I used to go out drinking with Mr. Ishikawa quite often. But when our collaboration became more regular, that suddenly stopped... I wonder why!

3) You directed A Letter to Momo and you also wrote the script. Was it the first script you ever write? Where does the story of A Letter to Momo come from? Is the movie inspired by your personal experience at all? Were inspired by some drawings or pictures? Could you describe the writing process?

Momo was my first script, because my previous movie, Jin-Roh was written by . to say, I struggled with that a lot, and I’ve been listening to the opinions from many people throughout the whole writing process. I clearly remember every time key ideas to the story popped out in my mind, like starting the movie with three drops falling down from the sky, or the straw boats thing. Those were very happy moments for me. At the same time, looking back to it there are a few things I would do differently now, and I hopefully this experience will be used for the next project.

As for the idea for the story, I did take inspiration from things occurred around me. The three goblins, of course, are fictional! I happened to know a family situation where a woman had to take care of her family after her husband’s sudden disappearence. I thought the idea that the husband/father could be watching over his family even after he has passed away was of great comfort in an otherwise very dramatic situation. To this I added the location in the Seto Inland Sea, a beautiful place where I spent my childhood, because although I’m from Osaka, the roots of my family are in Tomonoura (SEE LINK BELOW), and I used to go there during summer holidays. I had never thought to set a story there before, but for Momo it came up quite naturally. Shio Island is fictional, but is modeled after an island called Osaki Shimojima -although Shio Island is smaller- to which we added several elements from villages around the area and combined them together to create a realistic and convincing location. Finally, I added the fantastic element of the three goblins. I got inspired by a book about kibyoshi (NOTE: the Edo period illustrated books like the one Momo finds in the attic), and I started enjoying myself drawing yokai as they were easier and mor fun than humans. When the Momo project came up, I decided to add the yokai as comic relief. About Tomonoura : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomonoura

4) A Letter to Momo is about a young girl facing the death of her father and overcoming grief. Was this particularly sensitive and dramatic subject (the father’s death) difficult to represent?

I believe that we all share the natural desire of remaining somehow connected with our beloved ones who are no longer with us. I wanted to make a story that depicted that feeling. It is something you can find in any culture around the world. I imagined that our beloved ones watch over us from above, though we are no longer given to see them anymore. I was very careful in portraying delicate themes like life and death, but eventually the yokai helped to lighten the atmosphere.

5) Making A Letter to Momo took seven years… What took you so long in the movie elaboration? You also had in the team some of the best animators in Japan, who had worked in such project as Ghost in Shell, Spirited Away and . Was it difficult or interesting or just comfortable to work with so professional yet different people? Finally, A Letter to Momo turns back to the now prevalent CG animation… Why did you make this artistic choice?

The scenario itself took between 18 and 24 months, and from there I developed the storyboard, but actual production started while I was still completing the storyboard. It was the first time I had to create my own story, as my previous movie, Jin-Roh was written by Mamoru Oshii. I guess this turned out to be more time- consuming than I expected. Also I personally supervised all the animations because I wanted the characters to move naturally, and this was a huge amount of work...

Working with talented people is always stimulating and exciting, and a real pleasure. Perhaps for this reason, I felt compelled to do my best not to be overshadowed... and I suspect this might have been one of the causes for the enormous delay in the production schedule... perhaps?

For me it has also been a never-ending struggle with the movie runtime, in order to make the movie even one second shorter. But when we finally had a music score synchronized with the pictures, I felt happy beyond description.

As for the technique, A Letter to Momo is done in traditional 2D animation. All key and inbetween drawings are first hand-drawn with pencil on paper, and subsequently scanned for colouring and photography, that are done digitally these days. This is still the prevalent technique used in Japan these days, against the trend followed by the rest of the world, I guess. I’m not against computer-generated animation particularly, and some CG has been used in this movie, too. However, I believe that if I’m telling a story about human feelings, the pictures should be coming from a pencil carried by human hand, and not from a tablet and information elaborated by a machine.

6) After your first feature film (Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade), A Letter to Momo turns out to be completely different: a coming of age story, far from the dark and violent atmosphere of Jin-Roh. Why such a change?

Dramatic and intricate movies are also the most visually sophisticated, the kind that require the animators to give their best without compromise. For some reason, I’ve always been involved in this kind of projects. However, I’ve loved reading children literature since I was a kid. I clearly remember the first book I borrowed from the library was from Astrid Lindgren’s Bill Bergson series (in Swedish : Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist). Especially I loved the illustrations in those books. I do like heartwarming and uplifting stories, and I had always wanted to create a story that leaves you refreshed after the word, “the end,” and this movie could be as well described as a reaction to Jin-Roh. It’s not that I don’t like serious and dark stories, but I believe Momo is the result of my desire to give shape at least for once to something coming entirely from me. Some may argue that the story itself is not particularly innovative, but I believe that these days movies like Momo are not made very often, and perhaps there lies the movie’s raison d’être, if it ever has any. I wanted a movie that makes people feel better after watching it.

7) Did you want to speak to children or did you target a general audience? It seems that A Letter to Momo also speaks also to the adult audience.

I think I lost sight of a specific target for this film while making it. There may not be many characters, but their age varies greatly. So it is possible to follow the story from Momo’s perspective, but also from her mother’s, and even from the old uncles’. I don’t exclude a certain portion of the audience may even relate with the three yokai’s clumsy way to deal with a little girl like Momo in such a delicate situation. Interestingly, when the movie was released in Japan, we could realize that many couples of Ikuko’s age or even older, therefore very likely to have children or grandchildren of Momo’s age, went to watch the movie.

8) Were you ever tempted by making a live action movie? Or has animation always been a choice of yours?

I’m an animator and I believe animation is the only thing I could ever aim to do. I never thought to direct a live action movie. It is also something that would require a wealth of experience I don’t have.

9) The use of pastels and of a palette of very sweet, tender and soft paint colors. Can you talk about this artistic choice?

Jin-Roh was a dark and bleak story, so I used dark tones throughout. But I wanted Momo to be an uplifting story, where people could go out from the cinema after seeing the movie with a smile on their face, therefore the choice on the colour palette came out quite naturally.

10) A Letter to Momo describes the everyday life in a very realistic and poetic tone at the same time, without enhancing drama.

The challenge in this movie was about how to blend the realism of the human world with the comical mood brought into by the three goblins. It had to look natural, and of course stand on its own at the same time. My reference and source of inspiration was ’s animated feature film Jarinko Chie (Chie the Brat, 1981). It is indeed a movie with a strong comical component, yet every character is portrayed with the utmost care through their personality and gestures -the way they walk, or they turn around when they are called by someone- as they were real people. I had never seen such care and thoroughness in other animations. It is the sum of all those subtle details and physical gestures that creates the personality of each character, which was what I wanted to achieve with this movie. Therefore I checked all drawings personally.

11) Not only the pictorial aspect of your film is realistic but also its content, full of precise and realistic details like the building of a bridge, the reality of the lack of medical services on a remote island, or even the taste of tea and lemon cakes… Are these elements important for you? Why?

I used to spend my in the Seto Inland Sea, where the movie is located, but when I actually went there with the purpose of doing location research, it’s been an array of discoveries: things I saw for the first time and that I learned there for the first time. So many and so rich that I start wishing I could include everything in the film. Of course that was not possible and I eventually had to operate a selection. But for the parts I used, I took good care that they were properly rendered as I saw them. And believe me, the lemon cake is just delicious! (FRANCESCO’S NOTE: Okiura once brought me some and I can confirm it’s pretty good!)

12) Without radically entering in a fantastic world, A Letter to Momo is also a movie introducing goblins on stage. Are the three goblins part of Japanese folklore or did you invent them?

The design for the three goblins is original. I took reference from existing old illustrations, like the antique book Momo finds in the attic, because I wanted them to look convincing. The basic idea is that they are three spirits taking the form of goblins as depicted in a book, therefore drawn by human hand. Their true shape is something we are not going to know in the movie. And then I arranged the designs to fit with the animation style. Eventually they came up quite spontaneously. At first Mame was a bit more grotesque, but that design proved unpopular among the staff, so I changed him into what he looks in the movie. In Japanese we have this expression, kimokawaii, that translates something like creepycute. That’s Mame. I basically used the three goblins as comic relief to an otherwise dramatic situation, but the strange relationship between Momo and the goblins has been inspired by a Soviet-era Russian film called Kin-dza-dza! (1986) and directed by Georgiy Daneliya.

13) This is certainly a most unexpected source of inspiration! Can you tell us more about it?

I don’t remember exactly where I first heard about the movie. I guess it was from some movie magazine. There was a theatrical re-run in Japan, and the DVD was released shortly thereafter. So I purchased the DVD and watched it. It was a total surprise. The way the two main characters suddenly find themselves on another planet is pure genius. The design concept for the machinery appearing in the film was so amazingly unique. On top of that, I was fascinated by this rather odd situation where these two men from Earth act side by side to inhabitants from a different world, and yet they are unable to understand each other. And they end up developing a sort of affection for those selfish aliens... until the moving finale. Vladimir and Gedevan, the two guys from Earth, don’t really befriend with the aliens, but they are unable to remain emotionally uninvolved. I really liked that kind of situation, and I tried to replicate it in the relationship between Momo and the three goblins

14) What is your inspiration for the main character, Momo?

There’s no specific model. I developed the character of Momo based on a few ingredients I had in mind: not necessarily a strong personality and slightly introverted, but a fair bit stubborn as well. I also assumed that a kid of that age would act and have different facial expressions depending on the situation: when she is with her mother, with other children, with adult people she’s not really familiar with, etc. I tried to render subtle aspects of her personality that are not revealed by her words, but also through a variety of minimal gestures.

15) Momo, Ikuko, Iwa, Kawa, Mame… What is the meaning of these first names? Momo and Ikuko come from Hyakki Yakō , literally Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, which is a popular theme in Japanese visual art, and describes what happens at the end of the movie. The ideogram for hyaku ( one hundred) can also be read “momo”, which is a common name for girls (it can also mean « peach » and « pink »). The ideogram for kō ( to go) is read iku in its verbal form, which added to the suffix - ko , used in Japanese female names (such as Motoko, Akiko etc.), becomes Ikuko (). The names for the three goblins are more straightforward: iwa means “rock”, kawa means “river”, and mame means “bean”, in this case used with the meaning of “tiny”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakki_Yagy%C5%8D http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakki_Yak%C5%8D

I.G NOTE: the English page of Wikipedia says that a Parade would happen in the summer, but this is incorrect. A parade would be likely to happen on specific days of each month, so it was recommended not to go out during those nights.

16) Two situations in the movie stimulated our curiosity: Uncle lighting a cigarette while talking about Ikuko’s health, and Ikuko who is taking a course to become a helper, and yet she does not fully realize her daughter’s state of mind. Can you say something about that?

As for the scene with Uncle trying (unsuccessfully) to smoke, I wanted to depict the state of mind of a smoker. While obviously concerned about people around him, he’s always looking for an opportunity to smoke. You may notice that he tries several times, but he never succeeds in lighting a cigarette throughout the movie. This is related to the period when I quit smoking. It was really like that!

As for Ikuko, she’s obviously aware that Momo is unhappy with the decision to move on the island, and she’s avoiding the subject until Momo hopefully gets used to the new environment. Ikuko is forcing herself a bit, acting as everything is bright and fine. In fact, Ikuko has not recovered yet from her loss, and she’s not psychologically ready to share her daughter’s burden. She is also unaware of the unfinished letter left by Kazuo, therefore she’s not fully aware of what Momo is going through.

17) Could we assert that A Letter to Momo is a story about a come back to the roots of a traditional Japan?

From Momo’s standpoint, we can say that the big city-countryside contraposition becomes a central element to her distress. But for this movie in general, the scenery has a protagonist role on its own. I wanted that people who watched this movie felt the desire to visit the places where the story is set. I wish the Seto Inland Sea could become a place where people can find their memories.

18) Nature is vivid and intensively present in the film (water, wood, wind). What part does nature play in the film? And why do the goblins coming out from the woods look so different from Kawa, Iwa and Mame?

The goblins (yokai) in Japanese folklore are personifications of natural phenomena people were unable to explain the cause of. In other words, people gave them forms and names according to their imagination, without being actually able to see them. I thought that “actual” goblins wouldn’t look like those drawn in books by human hand, but had to be something more in harmony with nature. So they don’t wear garments and don’t speak our language. They are something that you sometime perceive out there without being able to define properly.

19) Could you tell us about the choice of the voice actors (of the Japanese dubbing)?

First of all, I thought of Yuka for Ikuko. She has a naturally cheerful personality, and although she’s an attractive woman, she’s very friendly, unpretentious and spontaneous. As for Karen Miyama, I remember I received a good impression when saw her on TV when she was a child, and by the time Momo was starting the audio sessions she had just the right age, so we contacted her. I haven’t been sure for a while about Iwa’s voice, but when I saw a movie with by chance, I thought he was Iwa! I was very happy when he accepted our offer. Not only he’s a very talented actor, but he’s a charming aged man, which fits exactly with Iwa’s personality. Koichi Yamadera was an obvious choice for Kawa if you are familiar with what that man can do.

KAREN MIYAMA’S PROFILE : Born in 1996 in Tokyo, she’s an up-and-coming young actress who started her career as a child acting in several TV dramas, TV shows and commercial films. He also starred in a few feature films, notably “Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu” (2004) and “Rock : Wanko no shima” (2011). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Miyama

YUKA’S PROFILE : Born in Tokyo in 1980, she is a popular face on Japanese TV, having acted in many TV dramas and commercial films, and variety shows such as Quiz Present Variety Q-sama!!, Osama no Brunch e Gout Temps Nouveau. She voice acted in Ice Age 2 (2006) e Strings (2007). NOTE: the Yuka link you find in the English wikipedia page of A Letter to Momo goes to a wrong same-name Yuka. Please dont take it as reference. Theres no English wikipedia page about her.

TOSHIYUKI NISHIDA’S PROFILE : Born in 1947 in , is one of Japan’s most famous actors, wth a wide range of comical and dramatic roles. He was insigned twice with the Japanese Academy Prizes in the Best Actor category for his performance in the movies The Silk Road (1988) e (Gakko) (1993). In 2008 he received the Medal with Purple Ribbon from the Emperor of Japan. He is most popular for the long-running movie series Tsuribaka Nisshi (Fishing Fool's Diary, 20 movies made between 1988 and 2009) with co-protagonist role, but he starred in countless movies and TV dramas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiyuki_Nishida

KOICHI YAMADERA’S PROFILE : Born in 1961 in Miyagi Prefecture, he is one of the most polyedric voices in the Japanese voice acting scene, from animation to live action. He is known for voicing Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy in the releases of their respective films. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koichi_Yamadera

CHO’S PROFILE : Born in 1957 in Saitama Prefecture. He worked in some popular children programs aired on the NHK Educational channel, and he is currently working as an actor and voice talent. Among his countless roles, he gave his voice to Brook in the animated series, and Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%8D

20) And what about Mina Kubota who composed the music? I happened to listen to the music Ms. Kubota had composed for a TV drama series just at the time we had to decide what to do with the music score of the film, and I felt it was very close to the image I was looking for Momo, so we contacted her. I described to her the overall atmosphere of the film, and the sound director, Mr. Kazuhiro Wakabayashi worked with her about the details. I think the result of their combination is just wonderful.

MINA KUBOTA’S PROFILE : Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, she attended piano classes since she was a child. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Music majoring in composition and commercial music. Later he collaborated with several artists in the United Kingdom. He moved back to Japan in 2001, where she is working as a professional composer and pianist. She obtained great popularity thanks to her work for the highly successful TV drama series GeGeGe no Nyobo (GeGeGe’s Wife), aired on Japan state-owned channel NHK in 2010. The drama tells the story of veteran comic artist ’s wife, Mizuki being known throughout Japan for his yokai comic books, the most famous of which is GeGeGe no Kitaro.

21) Masashi Ando who directed the animation and Hiroshi Ono who drew the background : how do you all collaborate ?

The main reason I asked Ando and Ono to join the production is because I really wanted to work with them.

I had the opportunity to work with Hiroshi Ono almost 20 years ago with Hashire Melos! (NOTE: Run, Melos!, an animated film based on Osamu Dazai’s novel and released in 1992, for which Okiura contributed animation supervision, character design and storyboard), and I wished I could work with him again since them. His use of colours is top notch in Japan.

As for Ando, we worked together for the first time in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), although I had known him from before. He is an astoundingly talented animator, and I felt the movie’s style and Ando’s personality matched perfectly, so it was easy for me to ask him to join in, and I hope he accepted because agreed with me (NOTE: Ando commented he was very happy to accept and have the opportunity to work with Okiura).

The result of having Ando and Ono in the staff is for everybody there to see. There could have been no A Letter to Momo without them. Really.

22) How was the film received by the audience and the media in Japan?

As I mentioned in a previous answer, not only children, but also couples who could have been Momo’s parents or grandparents went to see the movie. This was a bit unexpected...although I wasn’t sure about what to expect...but of course it made me happy. The screenings in the Hiroshima were overwhelmingly successful, and I was happy again because it confirmed that our rendition of their land in animation was being accepted.

23) What are your next projects?

There’s nothing decided at this moment, but I’m thinking at both a project that can be enjoyed by children like Momo, and one that is more adult-oriented.

24) A Letter to Momo is going to be released in [COUNTRY] soon. Can you please send a message to the fans there?

Don’t be too harsh on its imperfections! Just sit back and enjoy it!

PRODUCTION NOTES

Creating Shio Island

There’s no such an island called Shio in the Seto Inland Sea. However, although a fictional place, Shio Island does have a model in the island of Osaki Shimojima, a 2000-inhabitant small island with a perimeter of just 26 kilometers located in Hiroshima Prefecture, and that it is famous for its citrus orchards on terraced fields. « Plow to reach heaven » (), the line spoken by Ikuko in contemplating the fields carved out from the island’s steep mountains, is a quote from Chinese stateman Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) that he used to describe the area when he visited it after the first Sino-Japanese.

Athough Okiura was born in Osaka, a branch of his family has its roots in Tomonoura, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, another small but renown center located in the Seto Inland Sea, and he used to spend his summer vacations in the area. After directing Jin-Roh : The Wolf Brigade, Okiura happened to travel again to the area. At the time A Letter to Momo project started, Okiura recalled the place of his roots and childhood, and decided to use it to set his story. For this reason, the director, art director Hiroshi Ono and other members of the staff went twice on location hunting in Osaki Shimojima and the surrounding islands to find ispiration for the film backrounds, in March and August, 2006.

Eventually, Shio Island, with its terraced fields, breathtaking mountain view and traditional wooden houses was created by reassembling different elements the staff found in various places (basically, all elements appearing in the story but not on the actual Osaki Shimojima were « brought » there from other places). This is why although the island does not exist in reality, it looks very realistic.

The Miyajima Festival, where the island’s fathers release the straw boats to the sea as appearing in the movie’s finale, is also inspired by an actual festival that takes place at the Itsukushima shrine, located on a UNESCO World Heritage island (better known as Miyajima) off the city of Hiroshima. The ceremony is a prayer as to the children grow strong and healthy, and originally started in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of the city in WWII, when parents were obviously most concerned about the future of their children.

Hand-drawn Animation

Okiura and his team of animators aimed to render each character with as much realism as possible. For this purpose, subtle gestures and everyday’s life situations were given particular attention, in order to help the audience to relate with the characters. «These things may not be spectacular, but are extremely difficult to render properly » Okiura explains. For this reason, he asked for the help from some of the most skilled animators in Japan, such as Masashi Ando (, Spirited Away), Toshiyuki Inoue (), Ei Inoue (The Cat Returns), Takeshi Honda (Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance), Tetsuya Nishio (The Sky Crawlers) and Hiroyuki Aoyama (Summer Wars).

The gestures of the characters in the movie are so natural, that a journalist from Variety magazines wrote, « Director Okiura's nuanced sense of gesture and body language yields such true-to- life movement, it suggests either extensive work with actor-models or the classic rotoscoping technique Walt Disney used to animate Snow White». However, no motion capture or rotoscope technique have been used in A Letter to Momo : if movements appear so natural, it is all coming from the skill of the animators and their pencils.

However, was used in some parts of the movie. The motorboat that takes Ikuko to Imabari, the fan blades in Momo’s house, part of the sequences with the wild boars, the bridge in the final scene, are computer generated animation. Okiura does not reject computer animation a priori, and relied on this technique to render some details that would be too time consuming if done in hand-drawn animation, as he preferred to focus on other scenes. However, in more than one occasion he stressed on the fact that in order to tell a story about subtle human feelings that even words can barely express, he felt more natural to create it with a pencil carried by an animator’s hand, and not by information elaborated by a machine. And these are the words from a man who, in 2013, does not carry a mobile phone and does not use e-mail.

STAFF PROFILES

Original Story/Screenplay/Director: Hiroyuki Okiura

Born in 1966 in Katano, Osaka Prefecture, Okiura is considered a natural talent in the world of animation, having started his professional career at the age of 16 with no academic background. His credits as animator include some of the most visually stunning animated feature films produced in Japan: Akira (1988, key animator), Patlabor: The Movie (1989, key animator), Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993, additional animation supervisor), Memories (1995, key animator), Ghost in the Shell (1995, character design, animation supervisor, layout artist), Cowboy Bebob The Movie: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (2001, opening credit sequence director and key animator) and the Palme d’Or- nominated Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004, character designer, animation supervisor). Okiura made his feature film directorial debut in 1999 with Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, based on the script by Mamoru Oshii. The movie was selected for the 49th Berlin International Film Festival and won several recognitions in Japan and the world. A Letter to Momo is his highly anticipated second directorial effort after more than a decade-long hiatus, and has won many prizes around the world, including the Grand Prize for Best Feature Film at the 15th New York International Children’s Film Festival, and Best Animated Feature Film at APSAs 2012.

Key Animation Supervisor: Masashi Ando

Born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1969, Ando is considered one of the best animators in Japan. In 1990, while still a student at the Fine Arts Faculty of Nihon University, he is hired by Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli. After working as a key animator in projects such as “” (1992) and “Pompoko” (1994), at the very young age of 28 he is appointed key animation supervisor for “Princess Mononoke” (1997). He will have the same role in the Oscar-winning “Spirited Away” (2001). In 2003 he leaves Studio Ghibli to become a freelance animator. He contributed his talent to many projects by the late , including (2000, character designer), “Tokyo Godfathers” (2003, key animation supervisor) and “Paprika” (2006, character designer and key animation supervisor).

For “A Letter to Momo”, Ando contributed character designs in collaboration with Okiura, and had the role of key animation supervisor.

Art Director: Hiroshi Ono

Born in 1952 in Aichi Prefecture, Ono is considered disciples of the late Shichiro Kobayashi, whose studio, Kobayashi Productions Ono joined in 1977. Here he works in the background department for classics such as ’s “Nobody’s Boy: Remi” and Hayao Miyazaki’s “Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro”, but in 1983, he leaves Kobayashi Productions to establish his own atelier, Studio Fuga that he currently runs today. He was art director in “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, Le Chevalier D’Eon” and “: The First Strike”. He was also in the art departments for feature films such as “Akira” e “Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade,” and his recent credits include ’s ““ and ’s “Miss . “ While working as art director for the feature film, “Run, Melos!” (1992, from the novel by Osamu Dazai) he met Okiura, who was key animator supervisor for the film. From this experience, Okiura decided to ask him to take care of the background art for “A Letter to Momo”.

The Animation Studio: Production I.G

The animations of “A Letter to Momo” have been produced by Tokyo-based animation studio Production I.G, established by producer Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and animator Takayuki Goto (hence the I and the G) in 1987, and now one of the world's leading animation studios.

Production I.G has produced a number of acclaimed animated feature films and TV shows, that for their storytelling and quality of animation have earned critical accolades all around the world. Ghost in the Shell (1995, directed by Mamoru Oshii) reached N. 1 in US Billboard Top Video Sales Chart 1996; Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999, directed by Hiroyuki Okiura) was in the official selection at Berlinale 1999; and Blood: The Last Vampire (2000, directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo) was awarded the Public Prize in Fantasia. The Ghost in the Shell franchise (3 feature films and two TV series) has sold more than one million videos around the world, and is slated for a Hollywood live-action remake. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, directed by Mamoru Oshii in 2004, became the first Japanese animation feature ever nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Festival de Cannes. In 2008, Mamoru Oshii's feature film, The Sky Crawlers was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 65th Venice Film Festival and won 3 awards at Sitges in the same year. The studio's first 3DCG animation feature film, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror (2009), directed by Shinsuke Sato was Animation of the Year at the 33rd Japan Academy Prizes. Hiroyuki Okiura’s A Letter to Momo (2012), which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, was Best Animated Feature Film at the New York International Children’s Film Festival and at the 6th annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and was greeted with six more international awards in France, Italy, Canada, Czech Republic, Argentina and Japan. Mizuho Nishikubo’s Giovanni’s Island (2014), dealing with cross-cultural friendship among children in the aftermath of WWII, has received fifteen national and international recognitions, including Annecy (Jury Distinction), Chicago Children’s Film Festival (Adult and Children Jury Awards) and Fantasia (Satoshi Kon Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and Audience Award).

Influencing Hollywood: Production I.G visionary world is said to have deeply influenced many famous Hollywood creators, and this has eventually brought to the collaboration with Quentin Tarantino for the animation sequence in his world hit, Kill Bill: Vol. 1. The character of Gogo Yubari is was reportedly inspired by Saya, the heroine in Blood: The Last Vampire (2000). James Cameron described Ghost in the Shell as “a stunning work of speculative fiction” and said about Blood: The Last Vampire, “The world will come to consider this work as the standard of top quality in digital animation.” The Wachowskis were hugely inspired by Ghost in the Shell for their The Matrix trilogy.

The studio pursues an active international policy. The TV series IGPX (2005, directed by Mitsuru Hongo) was co-developed and co-produced with , became the first collaboration between a US cable network and a Japanese production house. Production I.G also collaborated with international music artists producing full animated music videos for legendary Russian singer Linda and French diva Milène Farmer.

Already amongst the new wave of Japanese animation, which is now an established market steadily gaining fame with western audiences, Production I.G aspires to continue driving this growth and to bring high-quality animations to the world.