Andrijana Cvetkovikj is a woman of many accomplishments. Most notably, she was the first Macedonian ambassador to Japan from 2014 to 2018. She has a Ph.D. in cinema studies from Nihon University, an excellence award from the Japan Association of Audiovisual Producers and a role as adviser to the head of the country’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. Now, at 43, she is the senior programmer for the inaugural Women’s Empowerment section at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF). The festival runs from Oct. 28 til Nov. 6.
1. What was the first Japanese film that left an impression on you? “Rashomon” was the first movie I saw when I was a kid. My mom was ironing and I sat in front of the TV, very close. She was saying I should sit back, but I could not take my eyes off the TV, especially as I was seeing people who looked different than us, probably the first time seeing a Japanese face.
2. This is as a child in Macedonia. Did that influence your decision to go into cinema and come to Japan? When I decided I was going to be a filmmaker, I started looking for that movie. Now it's so easy, you search on the internet, right? Back then was a different time, you’d have to go to libraries and check VHS tapes.
I still remember the way I experienced it when I was a kid, though. It was magic — movie magic.
3. Is that still your favorite Japanese film? When I was ambassador and I was presenting the letter of credence to the emperor (Akihito), he said, “I know that you have a Ph.D. in cinema. What is your favorite Japanese movie?” I said, “Ugetsu Monogatari” by Kenji Mizoguchi.
4. Why do you like that film? It’s mystical and reminiscent of a dream in so many different ways. It also reminds me of emaki mono (picture scroll), as the story is unfolding in a flowing way on the screen.
5. What film director would you love to have coffee with? There's nobody that I would like to have coffee with, but I would certainly love to go to a set to see how a director makes a movie. For example, the set of Mizoguchi.
6. Can you tell us a film that best represents Tokyo? I can tell you many, but I’ll pick Wim Wenders’ “Tokyo-Ga” because it was filmed with the intention of presenting Tokyo. In a way, it's an homage to (Yasujiro Ozu’s 1953 film) “Tokyo Story,” another favorite of mine.
7. What’s a film that represents Kyoto? Unfortunately, there are not many good examples showing contemporary Kyoto. Many movies show a more traditional Kyoto, which I love.
8. Are there other parts of Japan that are underrepresented in cinema? Shikoku is so beautiful, so mystical — so cinematic — so is Nagasaki. You always see Hiroshima, but Nagasaki has so much to offer, so much cultural history, especially related to the early engagement of Japan with foreigners.
9. What is the Japanese film industry like for non-Japanese filmmakers? The challenges are similar to the general challenges anyone faces if they come here and start a business — cultural barriers, language barriers or, more uniquely to film, getting a permit to film in a certain location or connecting with particular actors who are protected by agencies and you cannot contact them directly. The main issue, though, is access to financing. Compared to other countries where many national cinemas have bigger budgets allocated to supporting and promoting film, the budget is scarce in Japan.
10. What challenges do women filmmakers specifically face? The stereotype, which is not unique to Japan, that being a filmmaker is not a woman’s job. When I decided to be a film director, my entire family tried to convince me otherwise.
11. Did you face any specific challenges? When I was starting as a film director, my biggest challenge was I was a tiny, skinny girl. I was young and often my senior male counterparts on film set would refuse to listen to my orders in terms of instructions, like how to set up the lights. They thought I didn’t know what I was doing, and they did it their way.
12. How do you deal with that? I try not to take it personally. Once you take it personally, it becomes very difficult to take a rational approach (to the problem).
13. What can be done to improve the position of women in the film industry? There should be some principles that apply as in every other position, such as maternity leave, available child care on set. Also, women should be paid equally for equal work, more normal working hours and more sensitivity and support from male colleagues. There should be gender sensitivity.
14. Have you tried to help the situation in any way? I like to promote people who are at a disadvantage or suffer some kind of inequality or a lack of opportunity. So not only female filmmakers, but I've been supporting young filmmakers — especially in Japan, we need more youth leadership. I initiated a partnership between TIFF and Amazon Prime Video, and asked them to support and create a new category for young Japanese filmmakers.
15. You also helped promote the Oscar-nominated “Honeyland” in Japan. Can you tell us more about that? Last year, I was a chief curator for a new program at TIFF called “SDGs in Motion.” I selected seven movies to be screened in this category, focusing on two goals: gender equality and environment. For gender equality, I selected movies directed by female film directors, including (2019’s) “Honeyland,” co-directed by a Macedonian woman (Tamara Kotevska).
16. Has a single movie made you feel more connected to Japan? Yes, you will be surprised, it’s “Otoko wa Tsurai Yo.” To me, it really was similar to how Macedonians joke, how we have all these complex family relationships. I love the whole series, and I included it in my research.
17. In selecting films for the Women Empowerment section at TIFF, what criteria did you have in mind? I wanted to bring forward the unique stories of female film directors, writers and cinematographers that reveal a new aspect of humanity through telling women's stories from a female perspective. I wanted to focus on the narrative power, movies that move you when you watch them — you go out of the cinema and think about them for a few days.
Also movies that will be able to reveal a new world that is at the same time so familiar, because they reveal shared experiences but from a different angle.
18. Can you give us a sneak peek? We have stories from an Afghan girl who wants to become a wrestler, and there is an Iranian lady in her late age who discovers her romantic self and sexuality. There's a story, three different stories, from Costa Rica of what it meant to be a woman in the 1960s/70s, a story about modern motherhood from Hong Kong. I hope people come and watch all of them, and see how the films are able to talk to each other.
19. What kind of impact are you hoping to have? (I want) film studios to start having quotas for movies that they either distribute or produce, to be intentionally seeking female stories and be more open-minded. The government probably needs to have a strategy for women in film, there's demand for this content in the world. We have to create more opportunities for women to be playing on equal ground.
20. So, you're hoping for real change? Absolutely, I think real change can only happen when you bring all the relevant stakeholders, women who aspire to be in this industry and people who already are, to the same place. Then you bring people who have the power to change the reality, as well as government agencies, and you tell them what needs to change. If we only share among ourselves as women, we will never achieve change.
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