The director Naomi Kawase arrives at the premiere of the Olympic film in Cannes. Photo: Kazuko WAKAYAMA
By Philip Barker
“Olympic Games Tokyo 2022 Side A” by renowned Japanese director Naomi Kawase has been shown at the Cannes film festival.
“It focuses on the thoughts, passion and emotions of the athletes who took centre stage at the Olympic Games,” and is the first of two films that Kawase has produced to mark the Games.
“Side A” has a running time of one hour and 59 minutes.
It was screened at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès as part of the “Cannes Classic Selection.”
In the audience for the premiere was Canadian basketball player Kim Gaucher and her 14-month-old baby Sophie.
Her daughter had accompanied her to the Tokyo Olympics last year after Gaucher successfully appealed against a ban on family members imposed by Olympic organisers as part of the measures against the spread of COVID 19.
“I’m delighted that the film brought to light the challenges inherent in balancing being a professional female athlete and a mother with a young child. The film presents the best in me as both an athlete and a parent,” Gaucher said as she was also joined on the red carpet by husband Ben.
“There are Olympian mums like Kim Gaucher, performing the perpetual balancing act of competing at the highest levels of their sport while also being mothers, said Kawase, adding “I find strength through the tenacity and grace of these women. I watch the connection between these mothers and their babies.”
The film was the work of the Kinoshita Group and Tokyo 2020 in association with the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage (OFCH) and its Associate Director Yasmin Meichtry.
“We do need a film because we want to give a different approach to the Games than the broadcasting which is doing a fantastic job,” Meichtry said.
“We want the film to convey our messages but how the film maker does that is a very personal choice.”
“At least since Rio we have started to redefine what the movie should be and that it should be an artistic view. We needed to make it differently to give it added value.”
“We wanted a film with the personal touch, an artist’s view and artist’s feeling about what the Games are and this film helps us to bring the Olympic ideal to Cannes.”
“It is also helping us to bring the Olympic Games, the Olympic ideals to audiences that are not necessarily touched with the Games and we could not do this with the television coverage.”
“We need to make the film differently to give it added value.”
The film has been produced from thousands of hours of material. Post production on the second film, “Side B,” is continuing in Japan.
This will focus on the operational side, through the eyes of staff and volunteers, politicians and IOC members.
The musical score has been written by Fujii Kaze and David Hadjadj.
It is expected that it will be released at the end of June with a domestic premiere.
There was also a special screening of “Visions of Eight,” the official film of the 1972 Munich Olympics, to mark their 50th anniversary.
In the audience was 84-year-old French cinematographer Claude Lelouche, now the sole survivor of the eight renowned directors who had worked together in the production of the film.
There are no comments published yet.