With his very first feature film Yoshitoshi Shinomiya made it right in the Competition of the 76th Berlinale. There, A New Dawn equally fascinated and confounded the audience with its painterly pastel-coloured visuals, symbolic storyline, and narrative motifs evoking cherished Japanese traditions. One of the latter are the fireworks which the trio of main characters try to preserve while facing the dreams and devastation of their shared past. At the Berlinale, the Shinomiya talks with Lidanoir about Japanese tradition of fireworks, AI in animation, William Turner as an artistic inspiration, and much more.
Lida Bach: You have your feature film debut here at the Berlinale in competition. How do you feel about this big step at the beginning of your feature directing career?
Yoshitoshi Shinomiya: The challenge of making a film was for me much bigger than that. I’m still getting used to it. When I was notified that our movie was selected for the competition here at the Berlinale, I was not even sure I would be able to really finish this film by the deadline. So it really feels a bit surreal for me to be here. It’s rare for an anime to be selected, and also rare for a debut film, so it’s a huge honor. But I really hope that this can in some way help or encourage young anime creators in the future.
LB: How difficult was it to make an independent animation feature in a market dominated by a few big companies?
YS: The animation industry in Japan is huge, and many of these animation movies are based on manga. So the market itself is already very broad, and that may be a reason why independent animation movies like this get a chance to be released. These big productions are very successful internationally, and this can also give independent productions like this one a chance.
LB: An essential theme is this beautiful tradition of fireworks, which we’re losing in Europe but which still seems to be alive in Japan. What do the fireworks mean to you?
YS: It’s sad that these traditional celebrations are disappearing. In my hometown, we also used to have a traditional fireworks festival which took place in the summer, but it also stopped at some point. In August, we have this traditional festival called Obon, where the ancestors return home and the souls of the ancestors are commemorated. It also marks the end of the Second World War. Coincidentally, the festival takes place on the same day as the end of the Second World War, which is August 15th. So it has a religious aspect, and it has the meaning that the souls of the ancestors are being consoled. I would not say that this tradition is going to be completely lost in Japan, but they are becoming less and less common.
LB: Another aspect is the degradation of rural areas. People are moving to the city because they can’t find work. What does this aspect mean for your story?
YS: True, in the film, many people move from the countryside to the city. When I was young, I desperately wanted to leave my hometown and move to the city. But now I have children and I have a family. Now I really see the importance of community, which I was underestimating before: how much support it can give. That's why I wanted to depict this contrast between the countryside and the urban areas.
LB: The three main characters form a chosen family, but there also seems to be an element of class difference that separates them. How important are class issues in Japanese society and what do they mean for your film?
YS: The bigger problem is that people disconnect from their identity when they can’t uphold traditions. The question is, how can we preserve our traditions and culture in an ever-changing world? Tradition is so closely connected to our own identity, and even when the social landscape is changing, we can still preserve bits of it. That was the message that I wanted to convey. I suppose we can see these trends also in Europe. Many things are changing; traditions are lost or given up due to aspects like environmental reasons or energy. Political factors also play a role. So I thought that this is a universal theme that everyone can relate to.
LB: How was working with Makoto Shinkai?
YS: Makoto Shinkai is like a superstar for our generation. It was groundbreaking to see that he was able to make this long animation movie of about 20 minutes on his own on his PC. That was something that I was aiming to achieve as well.
LB: How do you feel about the use of AI in animation?
YS: There were moments when the production side suggested using AI because we were lagging a bit behind schedule. But at that time, AI was not at the level to really produce that kind of high-quality animation. I'm not sure how I'm going to react in the future if AI is able to acquire these kinds of skills. But I would say for me as an anime creator, hand drawing is a very important aspect.
“Anime” comes from the word "animism." This is the perspective from the human side, how humans see nature. If this changes and AI creates animation on its own, it would be the AI perspective, not the human perspective. So can you really call this thing animation? But that's a question that I have been contemplating as an animation creator. Maybe for the audience, this really doesn't matter.
When my daughter watches animation on TV, she's always surprised when I tell her this was created by a human. She says, "I can't believe that a human is able to do that!” For the younger generation, this is maybe the new normal: that AI is able to create content. Maybe it's something that only our generation complains about and not the younger generation.
LB: As many young people in Japan are living alone, are friendships as close as in the film still common?
YS: I'm not really sure because I'm not that young anymore, but that's something that I experience when I go back to my hometown. I think it does still exist.
LB: You mix myth, science fiction, and fantasy elements. Is genre film a big inspiration for you?
YS: I really like genre movies. I've been influenced by various genre movies, but I don’t want my film to end up being stereotypical.
LB: Tell a little about the stop-motion sequence!
YS: I've always made short films like commercials and TV shows. It's one of my specialties to mix things that are not real. It was a big challenge this time, though. The stop-motion scene was made in France. But it was a bit odd, since the gestures didn't really match the Japanese characters. We also used mahjong stones from a Japanese board game. The studio in France ordered them as well, but not from Japan—from China. So these were a bit different. So that was a challenge as well.
LB: Was Impressionist painting an inspiration?
YS: Yes, I would say so. In the opening scene, we were all inspired by paintings by Turner. He's not from the Impressionist school, but still has a similar feel. I'm more of a traditional Japanese painter, so that influenced me a lot. I tried to bring that element of traditional Japanese painting to the screen. I especially focused on the colors and the color grading. Not so much on light and shadow, but more on the whole framing and the lines.
LB: Thank you for the interview!