“I just want to make a tray of good tofu.”
—Dir. Ozu Yasujiro
Studied film production in NYU Tisch + CalArts, and graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, I’ve been specializing in directing actors and visual storytelling but also had significant work experiences in other areas such as cinematography, production designs, producing, casting, and editing.
I believe that making a film is like making a tray of tofu, as the renowned Japanese film director, Ozu Yasujiro, has said. First of all, to make a film is to observe, examine, and believe in life—it’s to reflect the daily life of ordinary people and the little moments as common as making a tray of hot tofu.
Secondly, it seems simple to make a tray of tofu but difficult if one wants to make it really good. I’ve always used Ozu’s words to encourage myself—making a film is also to take on challenges and finish tasks, every single one, no matter big or small, difficult or easy.
Finally, we live today in a time of growing enmities, of communities fracturing into bitterly opposed groups. Making tofu might be a simple idea that, in times like these, helps us to think beyond our dividing walls, beyond right and wrong, beyond love and hate, and reminds ourselves and others what we had been, what we are now, and what we could be.