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Bessho also took the opportunity to inform guests that in Osaka only, the festival would have a special screening of 'R,' a film by director Masataka Ohkita,
followed by a discussion with Bessho. Ohkita, currently studying film at New York University, said his film stars Kenichi Asai, (a former member of the musical
group Blanky Jet) and has no dialogue. "Asai is not an actor, he's a musician, which is what's most interesting about him. His music is the film's dialogue.
I think that if ten people are going to watch this film, then those ten people should be able to understand it," he explained. "I think that in this day
and age we're so flooded with information from so many different sources. When I started to make this film, I decided that I would make it as simple as
possible, put in as little as possible, and just put a few things that I like into it." Bessho, in discussing the film with Ohkita, offered the reasons for
which he likes the short film format so much. "Sometimes a two-hour film feels too long. I mean, if it's late and I'm getting ready to turn in, I think, I'd
like to watch something, but not a full-length feature film. I just want to see something that's maybe 15 minutes long. Or when I travel, I find it hard to
concentrate on a feature film, so a short film works better." Ohkita agreed, and added, "I think that because short films take so little time, they actually
can say more. So, for me at least, I think sound maybe more important than dialogue in the short film format. If sound is used well in a short film, then I
think the effect of the film is greater. Obviously you can't take a two-hour film and cut it to two minutes, but the possibilities are endless when you have
six minutes, I think."
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