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"Closing My Eyes and Seeing Summer" is the journey of a girl named Ha, played by actress Phuong Anh Dao. The story begins when Ha arrives in Higashikawa town, Hokkaido, Japan, to find her father (played by artist Cong Ninh). Ha's journey takes a new direction – exploring a land where snow falls in summer, where her father lived for a long time, and where she meets a Japanese boy – Akira (played by actor Takafumi Akutsu).
Ha – a summer girl with a radiant smile, just like her name suggests, plus a dynamic personality, a love for exploration, and a tendency to act from the heart, hating lies. Ha enjoys taking pictures, sending handwritten letters, and using smartphones; she's part of the team that can't eat onions. Conversely, Akira is a winter boy, cold, rarely smiling, with deep, introspective eyes, but deep down, Akira is warm, subtle, profound, and genuinely caring. Akira prefers taking black and white photos without people in them and, notably, doesn't use a phone.
"Closing My Eyes and Seeing Summer" is a psychological journey of two characters, telling the story of the love between two young people, one Japanese and one Vietnamese, who are different in language and culture. Interwoven into this are family relationships, particularly between father and son. These individuals, from diverse backgrounds, converge in the town of Higashikawa and write a story with a message deeply rooted in life.
"If one day you could no longer see, what would you most want to see?"
If one day you could no longer hear, what would you most want to hear?
If one day you could no longer speak, what would you most want to say?
Unlike famous Japanese cities like Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto, the main setting for *Summer in My Eyes* is the town of Higashikawa in Hokkaido, Japan. Ranked third on the list of favorite destinations in Hokkaido, Higashikawa is known as a picturesque town and is one of the few places in the world where it snows in summer. Snow falls almost year-round, particularly from early October to the end of June. Filming for *Summer in My Eyes* took place during Higashikawa's short summer period; however, even at its warmest, the temperature only reaches around 18 degrees Celsius, with average daily temperatures fluctuating between 2 and 10 degrees. This presented a significant challenge for the film crew in capturing each scene.
"Closing My Eyes to See Summer" is considered a highly-invested and meticulously crafted independent film project in terms of content and visuals. In a market heavily commercialized to cater to a large audience, "Closing My Eyes to See Summer" is seen as a risky venture with its "three no's" content criteria: no sex, no box office stars, and no slapstick comedy. Furthermore, the film crew was also quite daring, consisting of just over 30 people, a significant departure from the typical 70-90 crews. Notably, Japanese actors make up nearly three-quarters of the cast, significantly increasing the challenges during filming, directing, and directly impacting the emotional development of each character.
"Closing My Eyes and Seeing Summer" is a film that explores the subject matter in a gentle and subtle way, from its content and setting to its color palette and music. Audiences will have another option and learn more about this fresh genre amidst the plethora of commercial films released in recent years.
Summer will officially premiere on June 1, 2018.
News: Bao Khuyen
