“I just wanna make a tray of goddamn good tofu.”
—Dir. Ozu Yasujiro
Studied film production at NYU Tisch & CalArts, and graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, one of the most prestigious film institutes in the world, I’ve been specializing in directing and visual storytelling but also had significant work experiences in other areas such as cinematography, production design, producing, and casting.
I believe that making a film is like making a tray of tofu, as the renowned Japanese film director, Ozu Yasujiro, has mentioned. First of all, to make a film is to observe, to examine, and to believe in life—it’s about reflecting the daily lives of ordinary people and the little moments as common as making a tray of hot tofu.
Secondly, it seems so easy to make a tray of tofu yet still difficult if one wants to make it really good. I’ve always encouraged myself with Ozu’s words—making a film is also about bracing the adversaries and overcoming the challenges, however small, however big.
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 us what we had been; what we are now; and what we could be.