Japan US Friendship

Just sent the hard copy of the JUSFC Grant Application for Tokyo Cowboys. In one way, it's a weight off of my shoulders. I'm glad I did it. It allowed me to think hard about the film and why I'm doing it. Got some great letters of recommendations from Robert, Muromatsu-san, and Ben Gibson. More to come. I'm hoping that will help the committee to see that we are serious.

Booked the train tickets to Newcastle from where we will be getting the boat to Sweden. I wish I could fast forward the next week. Haven't felt that way since I was a child. Just thinking about packing up the house and moving everything to the lockup is making me a bit ill. Then there is the traveling with the harddrives, the CPU and the 500 tapes. I think Patrick and I will have room for one change of clothes each.

I'm so thankful to all of the people who helped with the Grant. And the London Film School people have been great. They've allowed me to work full time for the past 3 months, sorted me out with two hard drives and given me loads of moral support for this upcoming adventure.

I can't wait to sink my teeth into the edit. I've been moaning about logging and digitizing for the past 6 months, but I must remember that this is the first part of the editing process.

I think about James Joyce. "After graduation in 1902 the twenty-year-old Joyce went to Paris, where he worked as a journalist, teacher and in other occupations under difficult financial conditions" says his biographer. I like "and in other occupations under difficult financial conditions." His life inspires me.



They say he lived an uneventful life by today's standards. That's how I feel about my life. But, I'm always rewriting it in my head.

Pulling Miracles out of my Butt

On the bright side, just sent off the JUSFC Grant application. I don't know what kind of chance we have, but getting that grant could mean everything. On the dark side, we are still £2000 short to start the edit. Patrick seems to have faith that I can raise the money, but I'm really tired of that...fund raising. I just want to concentrate on the film. That's all I've ever wanted to do. And this producing shite takes up so much of my time.

I've had this idea for the Voice Over. I'm going to record the voice over in a variety of voices and accents. The poetic voice over will be sprinkled over the film.

Still digitizing. Will it ever end. Did Yoko at the Tsukiji Fish Market last night...and Cloudy at his beach house.

Still so much left to do before leaving for Sweden. I'm beginning to panic. I hate people who have enough money to throw at problems. I wish I had money to throw at problems. It makes things so much easier. Then again, if you don't have the money, then you have to be creative. Let's see if I can creatively pull £2000 out of my butt.

Ode to Fuji-san

Here is one of my favorite screen captures. And there is a story behind it. Can you see Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji) in the background? She had eluded us all day long. We had gone to the top of the Shinjuku Municipal buildings to find her. From the 42nd floor, you can see a panarama of the Tokyo landscape. On a clear day, you can see Fuji-san. But the day was not clear. It was hazy. And, although we could see Fuji-san with the naked eye, the camera could not capture it. There was too much haze...too much reflective light. Patrick and I got really frustrated and started to snap at each other. It was time to go. The only record of Fuji-san on the tape would be the voices of the Japanese visitors saying "Mieru?" "Hai, Miemasu! Fuji-san...sugoi!" Frustrated, Patrick and I decided to head back to Nick's house. We'd been up since 5 a.m. and we had to shoot in the evening. We needed some rest.



Nick lives near to a small station on the Odakyu line--Higashi Kitazawa. It was here that she revealed herself to us. I could hardly believe it. I asked one of the school kids in my gaijin Japanese: "Is that Fuji-san." "Yes," she said in English. "Lovely." There she was, glowing in the sunset, her beauty not obstructed but enhanced by the forground of wired and electric Tokyo. It was one of those moments that I will treasure...one of those moments that, when I think of it, I want to fly off to Tokyo right now...my heart fills with nostalgia for shooting, for Tokyo, for the Cowboys, for the 33 million Japanese living in that city. Please, please...for the love of God, someone help me finish this film. Someone take me back.

Bits from JUSFC Grant

Been working on the Japan US Friendship commission grant. This is the first grant I've ever written, so I've been putting quite a bit of pressure on myself about making it perfect. This has resulted in paralysis. Well, that's not true...partial paralysis. I've been writing on the grant for three months, but I still think it's sh%*e! As the deadline is looming, I've decided to send it over to the folks at Projectile Arts (my fiscal sponsor). I'm sure they will give me an honest opinion.

Sometimes I think I'm writing something that makes perfect sense. Like this:

Project Objective:

The objective of the project Tokyo Cowboys is to produce a high quality, feature-length documentary about the life and times of a group of American men who have immigrated permanently to Japan. The film explores their reasons for staying and their experiences with their Japanese counterparts with the aim of fostering a greater understanding of cross-cultural similarities. Built upon the foundation of the Post-Modern Condition, the film explores the themes of freedom and responsibility; otherness and belonging; and the deconstruction of objectivity. The documentary is intended for cinema release in the U.S., Europe and Japan followed by international DVD and VHS distribution. The film will be suitable for a wide audience including both Western and Japanese.

And then...sometimes I feel like I'm talking total poo:

Postmodern Approach
Trained as a postmodernist at one of the US’ leading post-graduate universities, Saft uses a Postmodern approach to the storytelling process. Exploding the meta-narrative of western men in Tokyo, she achieves veracity by telling personal stories—mini-narratives, which are always situational and make no grand claim to universality. She explores the idea of Tokyo as the post-modern urban frontier. Cowboys go for the gold rush. They arrive and completely reinvent themselves by taking advantage of the opportunity indigenous to Tokyo. But, they are changed. They have mated with the “other” to become something new--born out of their own culture and the borrowed one. Tokyo wrings them out; she folds them in until they are a part of her and she is a part of them. Yet, they have the freedom to construct their own reality, their own future, even their own past as no one knows them from before, and they control the information that goes back home.

Monthly Update

Greetings from the Tokyo Cowboys team. It’s time for the monthly update.

Well…we’ve survived the terrorists. Thanks to all of you who wrote and called in your support. It was pretty frightening as we are based in Central London, but we were surrounded by the awesomely stoic Londoners.

On to happier things,

Here's the news:

IN THIS MAIL

1) Welcome New Investors
2) Swedish Seclusion
3) Japan-US Friendship Commission
4) Day and Night

1) NEW INVESTORS

Tokyo Cowboys welcomes two new investors joining us last month. In addition, a previous investor bought another share to add to her Tokyo Cowboys portfolio. Thanks again, you three, for your support. With that money we were able to buy a new Hard Drive (the other three have become full!). Just as important, however, we were able to FINISH LOGGING!!!!

If we can manage the sale of 4 more shares at £500 each, we will be set to FINALLY BEGIN EDITING. Now more than ever, we need your support. Four shares will allow us to buy another Hard Drive (the last one, which will hold nearly 100 hours of interviews). It will also allow us to dedicate nearly 3 months to full time editing. Please help us out if you can in funding this unique and exciting project.

2) SWEDISH SECLUSION

As I mentioned last month, thanks to the generous support of one of our Patrons, Patrick and I will be secluded in Sweden for nearly 3 months working full time on the project. We will be giving up our flat here and putting everything into storage taking only the computer and a few personal items. We have also put all other work on hold until our return to London in mid-October. You can still get in touch through email, the Blog and the website. The next time you hear from us, we will be up North. If you want updates in the interim, please visit the Tokyo Cowboys Blog at (www.tokyocowboys.blogspot.com)

3) JAPAN-US FRIENDSHIP

We are finalizing our application for the Japan-US Friendship Commission Grant. The application has to be submitted in three weeks, and we are working furiously on putting together a great proposal. On our team is a former JUSFC Grant winner, our fiscal sponsor and an experienced arts grant writer. Getting awarded this grant would be a great honor and would considerably help with the sale and distribution of the project.

4) DAY AND NIGHT

Patrick has been logging and digitizing day and night. He is nearly finished the 500+ tapes. This has been a Herculean task, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart.

That’s it for now. Keep yourselves safe and I’ll e you next month!
Hugs,
Daneeta

London Calling

Dear Akiko,

Thanks so much for your concern! Patrick and I are both fine as are all of our friends. As you know, we live and work just a 10 minute walk from the bus explosion. I was already at the London Film School when the explosions happened. One of our staff members was passing the bus when the bomb went off. He made it into the school safely, but he was terribly shaken. We locked down the school and kept all of the students calm.

We've got a big screen plasma TV here at the school, and we all gathered in front of it watching for news. Akiko, it was really heart warming admist all of the tragedy. As you know, the students are a very international group. We had Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindu and Agnostics supporting each other and showing a great sense of solidarity. I was really impressed with how brave they all were for being so young.

I was also impressed by the way the police, paramedics and medical professionals handled the situation. We felt like things were under control soon after the explosions.

Walking home through Covent Garden was surreal. It was 5 p.m. and all of the shops were closed. I've never seen that before. The only places open were the pubs, and they were packed (in true English fashion!).

I'm still trying to process it all today. I feel like the world has lost some of its innocence since I was a child. But then I realize that we've been bombing each other to hell for generations. What an utter lack on imagination on the part of the human race. I'm so disappointed and sad that we can't think of better things to do than kill each other.

Keep yourself safe, and good health to your father.

Hugs,

Daneeta

Tokyo Cowboys Patron Creates New Life

The Tokyo Cowboys team would like to congratulate Jennifer and Ariel Goldfarb on the new addition to their family: Meris Xavier. Jennifer and Ariel have been long-time supporters of Tokyo Cowboys. After having lived in Tokyo for several years in the late nineties, they made their way back to the States and got busy with careers and family.