Young and upcoming Japanese Director Nagisa Isogai attended the UK Premiere of her Short Film ‘The Lust of Angels’ in the 22^nd Raindance Film Festival 2014 in London. A very talented and daring young lady, Nagisa Isogai sat with me for a very brief conversation about her short film, which highlighted a problem mainly faced by women in Japan.

Hi Nagisa, welcome to the Raindance Film Festival. Tell a bit about yourself and how does it feel to have your film selected in Raindance?

My name is Nagisa Isogai and I directed the film ‘The Lust of Angels’. This is the second movie that I directed, and I am so glad that it got selected in the Raindance Film Festival. I am looking forward to the feedback from the people here in England.

Why choose such a topic to make a film on?

Courtesy of Third Window Films

The story in the film is based on an experience which my friend had back in Japan where she studied in a girl’s only high school. There was a man who was flashing himself in a train and a group of girls found out what he was doing. At first it just seemed as a joke but as the man continued flashing the matter escalated into violence, and this group of girls started beating the man. So from here I took this incident and expanded it into this movie that I made.

Courtesy of Third Window Films.

What inspired you to bring forward the characters of Saori and Yuriko in the film?

The high school that I went to was a girl’s only school with very strict rules. There was femininity in the school in which I studied and because of that we were taught how to be polite. All these strict rules and teachings strained me a lot so when I left the high school I felt very relieved and felt freedom within me. This freedom that I felt is probably what reflects in my film and the characters of Saori and Yuriko.

Does the title of the film hold a message in it?

Courtesy of Third Window Films.

There is no deep message in the title itself, but I really like the words ‘Lust’ and ‘Angels’ because they mixed with each other, and as they looked good with each other I put them into the title of the film.

Thankyou for your time and I pray for more success in your life, and hopefully to see more of your work.

Thankyou.

Nagisa Isogai is one of the three Japanese Directors whose film is being released on DVD on November 24^th. It is an initiative taken by Third Window Films as ‘New Directors from japan’ project, bringing forward the young and upcoming directors from Japan.

All Rights Reserved for the Title Picture to ‘The London Tree.’

Images used within the page are Courtesy of Third Window Films.

Special thanks to Sayaka Smith for interpreting and Adam Torel of Third Window Films.