NO REASONS
a short film
fiction / drama
film information
Title : NO REASONS
Runtime: 11:56
Completion Date: Feb 16, 2022
Country of Origin: United States
Country of Filming: United States (Brookly, NY)
Language: English
Shooting Format: Digital
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (1.77:1)
Film Color: Color
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Resolution: SD / HD / 2K / 4K
synopsis
An immigrant, Sugihara is struggling with his marriage due to the pandemic as well as cultural differences with his wife Sophie. He is tired of the couple’s arguments, so he goes to a nearby park to clear his mind but something else ends up bothering him…
SCREENING SCHEDULE
Festival of Cinema NYCDate:Saturday, August 6, 2022 3:00 PM EDT
Location:Regal UA Midway (Theater 2)
Ticket
Chain Film FestivalDate:Monday, August 8th, 2022 8:00 PM EDT
Location:Chain Theatre 3rd floor
Ticket
New York Human Rights Film FestivalDate:Wednesday, Sep 28th, 2022 7:30 PM EDT
Location:Tribeca Screening Room
Free Screening
NewFilmmakers NY 2023 – Official Selection
Festival of Cinema NYC 2022 – Official Selection – Best Cinematography Nominated
Chain Film Festival 2022 – Official Selection
New York Human Rights Film Festival 2022 – Official Selection
Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest 2022 – Official Selection
Asian Film Festival, Los Angeles Hollywood – Official Selection
Los Angeles Asian Film Awards – Official Selection
statement
Director’s Statement
As many of you already know, the human rights issues such as Black Lives Matter, and Asian Hate Crimes have a long history. For those who were born and raised in the United States, those incidents make them feel like being denied living in your home country and brought into psychological stress far beyond your disappointment for the present and future. I also have a strong feeling of sorrow for those who have died from this kind of violence.
On the other hand, I am an immigrant, an Asian immigrant who has just arrived in the United States. For me, this problem is as important and non-negligible as any other human rights issue, but I think I only have a shallow part in it because I was not raised here. However, I believe that raising this matter from the side of a non-native perspective is very important, and I also believe that there is no difference between Asian Americans and any race in terms of perspectives that should be resolved together by society and the residents.
There are mainly “victims” and “offenders” in those incidents told in the news, and someone is always watching. I believe that the biggest problem depends on what that “someone” does. This is because many of these social problems cannot be solved by saying “who is wrong”. Education, the environment, their finances, their family issues, media communication, media literacy, government awareness, and various layers are creating people who choose to harm others. No one can convey this information perfectly. But we know this. We want to live in peace and happiness. Unfortunately, there is no perfect society anywhere on earth. Therefore, I think it is important for each of us to always breathe, notice, think, and take action accordingly.
credit
Masataka Ishizaki is an actor, director based in New York City. He was born in Boston, USA, and raised in Osaka, Japan. For over 10 years, he has been working as an actor for films, televisions, commercials in Japan as well as in New York, USA. As for the director, his short film project “Cookie” has been screened at some film festivals such as NewFilmmakers NY 2020, MANHATTANHENGE FILM FESTIVAL 2021, Festival of Cinema NYC 2021.
Maria Scenna repeatedly continues to push the boundaries of performing art. She has appeared in numerous short films, commercials, industrials, web series, and photo shoots, and is the winner of multiple international film festival awards. Maria is also a singer-songwriter and has released original music.
David Langlois was born in Paris, France and is now based in NYC. He plays several instruments including some unique percussion set gathering his grand-ma’s kitchen tools. He also loves to sing in different languages mostly using roots reggae music carrying a message of peace, love and justice for all. When not touring, he performs regularly in NYC venues including Lincoln Center, Birdland, Town Hall, Joe’s Pub, Brooklyn Bowl, etc…
Seattle born Los Angeles based producer Thomas Yount has produced a wide range of music and soundscapes for artists, film, television, commercials, and video games. Recording original sounds and practicing synthesis have been a central starting point for adventures brought into his music production. After discovering his affinity for synthesizers, his curiosity for playing with “electricity” was born.
presents

casts
Sugihara…Masataka Ishizaki
Sophie…Maria Scenna
Offender…Paul Coughlan
Live Performers
David Langlois on guitar and vocal
Bryan Beninghove on keys and melodica
Patrick “Dready” Fevrier on percussion
Kika Jackson on drums and Ras Abda G on bass
Weatherman…Lumash Singh (Voiceover)
Victim…Rieko Gibbs
Daughter of the Victim…Stephanie Cheng
Chinese American…Kelvin Li
Chinese American…Aaron Li
African American bystander…Carvens Aly
African American bystander…Kisala Kanasashi Gibbs
Latin American bystander…Joanna Malasa
West Asian American bystander…Gunpreet Signh
Caucasian American bystander…Ela Capliphari
crews
Producer:Akira Yazawa, Masataka Ishizaki / Director: Masataka Ishizaki / Screenwriter: Masataka Ishizaki / Sound Designer: Thomas Yount / Still Photographer: AJ Stetson / Original Score: Rémy Sendra / Assistant of Screenwriter: Maria Scenna, Paul Coughlan / Director of Photography: Masataka Ishizaki / Camera Operator: Mohammed Sonie, Aaron Li / Editor: Masataka Ishizaki / Color Grading: Masataka Ishizaki / Production Designer: Masataka Ishizaki / Sound Recording: Masataka Ishizaki, Carvens Aly / French Subtitles by Marina Hantz / Spanish Subtitles by Simone Barros Bastidas
location support
song
“Mon amant de Saint-Jean” (Composed by Émile Carrara, Played by David Langlois)“Tes Yeux Ta Bouche” (Composed, Played, Licenced by Rémy Sendra)
special thanks
Sophie Suos / Suguru Minami / Alex Shu / Sherice “Mina J” Glover / Clau Parra Bravo / Victoria McGuinness / Svetlana Mikolenko / Dan Asenlund