Minami Goto, Recipient of the ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.-FUTI Scholarship, Presents a Special Preview Screening of her Short Film, “Breakers”

On February 27, 2019, in Manhattan, New York City, a special preview screening of the short film “Breakers” was held along with a meet-and-greet with the film director, Minami Goto, a recipient of the ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.-FUTI Scholarship. While a student at the Columbia University Film School, Ms. Goto won the Avex Digital Award for best film plan at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2017, an international short film festival and Academy Award sanctioned competition. A preview screening of the completed short film, “Breakers” was shown to the 31 attendees of this event who enjoyed a 25-minute story of a friendship between Japanese high-schoolers and their rebellion against adults.

Photo credit: Dr. Shohei Koide

After the screening, Ms. Goto gave a presentation on the long process of filmmaking starting from its planning stages, production preparation, filming, post-production, to its distribution. Using scenes from “Breakers” as examples, she explained the different phases that a filmmaker must go through to create a movie.

Dr. Yuriko Suzuki, FUTI Advisory Committee member, commented, “I really enjoyed the movie and admire Ms. Goto’s talent. In the (Japanese) society, people often complain about their working/living environments, but there are very few who actually take an actions, instead of just complaining. This movie appears to highlight the challenge and importance of taking an action rather than simply complaining.”

Among the attendees were students in New York on short-term visiting programs, and with so many questions and thoughts being shared, there was hardly enough time to get through the discussions.

Articles in this newsletter: