FOR REST was the winner of BEST FILM at the August 2018 Experimental Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Shinya Isobe: Filmmaking is my life’s work, so there is no special motive in this film. If anything, it is to make better film than the previous.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

In total – about 6 years.

3. How would you describe your short film in two words!?

Natural reincarnation

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

A fence was created beside the table during the shooting. I had a hard time finding the angle in the final scene.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video:

Fear and pleasure were coexisted. I was moved by the distant people talking about my film.

6. How did you come up with the idea for this short film?

I wanted to make a film in the forest. The first was, I came up with scene of the table with dishes in the forest. There was no meaning to it and only that image was born from unconscious. Next, I imagined what kind of impression that image would give to the audience. Eventually the theme of “life and death” or “nature and human” came out in the process of the production. In Japan, there is a forest called “Aokigahara-jukai” at the foot of Mt.Fuji. And it is stigmatized as a suicide spot. Although this film does not describe directly about this place, but it is a motif of thinking.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Whisper of the Heart (Studio Ghibli)

8. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway, what are you feelings of the submission platform from a filmmaker’s perspective?

It was very good to submit. I was searching for experimental film festivals and arrived this festival.

9. What song have you listened to the most times in your life?

World’s end (THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT)

10. What is next for you? A new film?

I have several new films the middle of production right now.