Dec 15, 2025
Sol Friedman House (also known as "Toyhill"),
Pleasantville, New York, United States,
A Usonian-style home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
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Sol Friedman House (also known as "Toyhill"),
Pleasantville, New York, United States,
A Usonian-style home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Interview with Junko's Shamisen Creator Sol Friedman
Sol Friedman amazed me with his Junko's Shamisen short film. Loved everything from the story, concept, art direction and all the cinematic elements used. I knew i just had to do a Q&A to uncover more. Here is what we talked about. Enjoy!
2dots - Can you please tell readers a bit about yourself and what you do.
SF - I am an artist and animator. When I was eight years old, I did a very short clay-mation film about a white tiger and a dracula. Then, about five years back I taught myself computer animation in order to help a friend with an animated documentary project.
2dots - What made you/inspired you to do Junko's Shamisen?
SF - After high school I trained in Zen Shiatsu and have visited Japan several times since. I had been waiting for a project that would really let me bring together my fascination and love for Japanese culture with the creative work that I do. So when visiting in 2008 I watched a Kabuki performance and got pretty excited about the possibilities of how it might translate to film. I did a little bit of research and came across a Kabuki story that I really enjoyed and began writing my own.
2dots - How much research did you do especially on the Kabuki aspect to make the short film.
SF - I immediately started with some fairly broad research on the various Japanese storytelling traditions: Noh, Kabuki, Bunraku, etc. but I came to understand that (as with many aspects of Zen cultue) people can, and do, study these traditions their entire lives, and for me, the important aspect was to maintain, and express, the sense of wonder and excitement that I felt when I first watched a Kabuki performance.
Lead actress Clemence Wong making of Junko's Shamisen
2dots - What was your creation process and duration making this short film. and what was the overall experience?
SF - Relatively speaking, it went quite fast. We shot in May and wrapped up post production in August. 3 Months is fairly good on such a post-heavy project.
The process was a challenge for sure. For the entire post-production phase, I would sit down at the computer and work for almost sixteen hours straight without even realizing. By the end, I was so engrossed in the work that it was a bit sad for me when the project was ending.
2dots - How did you combine kabuki traditions, comic-manga and anime with other cinematic elements and syncing all of them in your story and what was your biggest challenge bringing it to life.
Junko's Shamisen behind the scenes : actors Benny Min and David Fujino
SF - I understood the challenges and solutions to the visual treatment of the project, but the biggest challenge by far was in using a more sophisticated production workflow. I usually work alone so it was a bit of a learning curve for me in terms of how to communicate with others on the team. Other than that, everything felt quite natural. The treatment gave us creative license to really do whatever we wanted visually and since we were shooting on a greenscreen, there really were no restrictions at all.
2dots - I am sure you are a fan of comics and manga/anime if so, what are your favorites?
SF - I actually didn’t read a lot of manga/anime before this project, but I have always appreciated the art form. When I was working on this film I did try to spend a bit more time with comic books, but many of the ones that I was looking at were in Japanese so I was mostly in it for the pictures. There was one that I really liked, a more crude style of drawing (there is also an animated film based on it). I could be wrong but I think its called Tekkon Kinkurit..? Does that sound right? I also liked Bleach.
2dots - Ha! It is Tekkon Kinkurit. How about your all time favorite film makers/artists that inspire you.
SF - I have been watching David Fincher's movies for a long time. His magic is the kind where you don’t even know you are watching magic. I also really like, Michel Gondry, Jean-pierre Jeunet, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Terry Gilliam and many others too.
2dots - Top 3 visually inspiring movies.
SF - There are so many, these are the first three that came to mind that I felt have really striking visual treatments or art direction. Ones where it made me jealous in some way that I hadn't done it. But there are many, many more.
City of Lost Children - Marc Caro, Jean-pierre Jeunet
Enter the Void - Gaspar Noe
Edward Scissorhands - Tim Burton
2dots - With such creativity under your belt,directing, writing and animation how do you personally define creativity and how do you enlighten yourself ?
Sol Friedman with lead actress Clemence Wong
SF - I don’t really think about creativity or enlightenment anymore. I see puzzles, and I look for the ones that will stimulate me the most.
2dots - I know you have interest in making it a full length movie, if you get the chance, what are your early plans for the film and how different will it be from the short film.
SF - I can’t really say much about it for now, but the project will take its cues from the original both stylistically and in terms of the storytelling.
2dots - What is next for you and any current project you are working on that you want to share?
SF - I am currently doing post-production on a short robot love story called, “Love Songs from an Android”. Its a really exciting and challenging project, and the cast and crew have been amazing to work with and really supportive. We will hopefully premiere in September of this year, so stay tuned.
2dots - What do you like most about what you do?
SF - I don’t know really. I like the constant growth and development of a project through its various stages. I like the adrenaline and intensity of working within tight timelines. And I like at the end of the day making something out of nothing. It really is a kind of magic.
Sol Friedman's official webpage - http://www.solfriedman.com Junko's Shamisen official webpage -http://www.junko-film.com Junko's Shamisen facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=234121429531&v=wall
Short Film : Junko's Shamisen
Official Synopsis :
Set in the rural backwoods of feudal Japan, a young peasant girl named Junko, returns home to discover her blind grandfather brutally murdered. Devastated and filled with despair, Junko, accompanied by a mystical fox spirit, abandons her old life and sets off for the village in search of better fortune. While begging, young Junko inadvertently encounters the evil samurai lord responsible for killing her grandfather and with the influence of the fox spirit, avenges her grandfather through an act of gruesome poetic justice.
Written, animated and directed by Canadian filmmaker Sol Friedman. Already received lots of praises and awards, with high quality theatrical elements and combination of traditional Japanese Kabuki with comic-manga animation style, Junko's Shamisen is a well deserved and outstanding movie. More behind the scenes and information available at the official movie webpage.
LOVE SONGS FROM AN ANDROID
Even robots go over the edge when it comes to the matters of the heart...er, mainframe. A dark, eerie look inside the mind of a cute but disturbed machine.
Sol Friedman
" I don’t really think about creativity or enlightenment anymore. I see puzzles, and I look for the ones that will stimulate me the most"
- Sol Friedman (artist and animator)
Perhaps one of the most interesting shorts the Athena Film Festival has seen in the past few years, Junko’s Shamisen is characterized by an incredible amount of style. It fuses live-action, manga style animation, and Kabuki theater to create an artistic vision that is as stunning as it is fascinating.
| x | With the help of a mystical fox at her side, a young girl avenges her grandfather’s death in this mixed-media tale of innocence, evil and bloodshed.
Junko's Shamisen was played in Shorts Collection II at the 2012 Festival, and so far it’s made its rounds through over 50 different festivals before being released for viewing online. Watch it, and let us know what you think.
It Was a Canad~eh for Film Eh? TIFF Imperial Styleh!
The Royal York, Canada's most historical hotel hosted this 37th Press Conference in the luxurious Imperial Room to announce everything Canadian starting with Telefilm's amazing ongoing support with Pitch This! & Talent to Watch just for beginners www.telefilm.ca
The Short Cuts Canada presents 44 great short films that are eligible for the Award for Best Canadian Short Film.
The exciting throwdown of the Talent Lab & Producers Lab will guide emerging talent to the forefront! Producer Stephen Woolley (Great Expectations, The Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire) and documentary filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes, Act of God) are two of this year's governors.
Yeah eh, no Guff! That's TIFF! 2012 www.tiff.net
Looking like stars - Pam Mollica (Director of Communications) wearing an LBD & Jennifer Bell (VP of Communications) wearing Brian Bailey bring glam to the offices of TIFF.
Some of the posters that dotted the Imperial Room read "Where Seeing Meets Believing" "Where Indie Meets Epic" and "Where Popcorn Meets Pate"!
Elegance & Style ruled the day!
Bill Marshall co-founder of TIFF states this year's Festival is "F**kin Fabulous"!
Diana Warme (producer) and documentary filmmaker Jamie Kastner bring The Secret Disco Revolution to TIFF. They're in development with Inside Joke: How Humour Invented the Jews which blends a black comic trip through the international landscapes of contemporary Jewish humour with a journey into its little-known past.
Super-talented Actor/Writer/Director Valerie Buhagiar radiates as one of the TIFF Jury Members - Canadian Showcase www.valeriebuhagiar.com
Writer/Director Katarina Gligorijevic with Producer/Writer/Director Ingrid Veninger and photojournalist Rosie Levine www.rosiesworld.com
The ever-so-talented Writer/Producer/Director Ingrid Veninger The End of Time (Masters) makes up part of this year's Twelve Talent Lab Alumni. Ingrid's huge body of work includes the award-winning Modra . Check out www.punkfilms.ca
Photographer Biserka Livaja with husband Mark Harman are beaming and should be with the recent success of the Fringe play Rare where their son Dylan Harman Livaja made his acting debut. The play won the David Mirvish award.
Brandon Cronenberg cellertainly is enjoying himself and should be as his feature film Antiviral was the buzz on the Croisette at Cannes and will make its North American debut at TIFF. The film stars Caleb Landry Jones and Sarah Gadon.
Ever-so-stylish Filmmakers, Sol Friedman and Sarah Clifford-Rashotte are proud that Sol is one of the finalists of Telefilm Canada's Pitch This! with his feature Ivan & Evelyn. On September 11 a jury of international industry experts will award the winning team $10,000 from Telefilm Canada to further develop their project! We'll keep you posted on these young talents - Break a Leg!
Documentarian Barry Avrich - Show Stopper: The Theatrical Life of Garth Drabinsky with TIFF board member Warren Spitz
Manon Briand has a chuckle whilst discussing her feature film Liverpool
Ingrid Veninger wearing one of her many pairs of Fluevogs designed by her fave footwear designer John Fluevog. I sense a sponsorship deal here!
The participants in Canadian film are applauded for their ongoing dedication and commitment to bringing their best work for the world to SEE!
TIFF 2012 Where Seeing is Believing
www.tiff.net
しっぽをだす—To show one´s true colors
Foxes are considered to be gods, spirits and ghosts of good or evil kind, always depending on the storyteller and cultural background. Their powerful appearance suggests their magical state among the animals. I fell in love with the image of the fox.
Junko´s Shamisen by Sol Friedman.