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(Fantasia Fest 2026) The Making of YOU ARE THE FILM: Three days for a Single Conversation

By. Radek Velicka

The screenplay was inspired by a real cinema, one conversation took three days to film. Director Makoto Ueda documented the entire process in a detailed production diary.

Some articles are simply more enjoyable to research and write than others, even when it is clear from the beginning that fewer people will probably read them. That is exactly the case with You Are the Film, which I reviewed a few days ago. With a film this original, however, a smaller readership does not bother me at all.

It also turns out that the story of its production may be even more interesting than the film itself. I would therefore be glad to hear whether you enjoy these behind-the-scenes features and whether you would like to see more articles about how different films are made. And now, let’s take a closer look at how You Are the Film was actually filmed.

In one scene from You Are the Film, Madoka sits in an almost empty cinema and speaks to Kazuma, who has appeared on the screen in front of her. At the same time, he is watching her in another film and answering from his own auditorium. The finished scene looks simple.

It took three days to film.

During the production of his feature directorial debut, Makoto Ueda kept a detailed diary. He recorded technical problems, scheduling changes, an approaching typhoon and the moments when the crew finally managed to complete one of the film’s complicated shots. His notes reveal how much preparation went into a playful science-fiction comedy that runs for only 68 minutes.

 

 

Four Months From the First Idea to the Camera

Ueda has led the theatre company Europe Kikaku for almost 30 years. For much of his film career, he concentrated primarily on writing. His screenplays formed the basis of Summer Time Machine Blues, The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, River and Rewrite. He repeatedly turned down the opportunity to direct a feature because theatre and screenwriting already occupied most of his time.

That changed during preparations for another Europe Kikaku project. Producer Akari Takeoka realized that Ueda and several members of the company would have an opening in their schedules four months later. She suggested that he use the opportunity to make his own film.

The compressed schedule suited him. With more preparation time, he might have spent several additional weeks reconsidering every decision. This time, he had to move quickly. The project began in mid-May, the first draft of the screenplay was completed on July 15, and filming started on September 1.

Casting, crew recruitment and the search for ways to execute tricks that existed only in Ueda’s imagination all took place at the same time. Some actors accepted their roles before the screenplay had even been completed.

Europe Kikaku prepares its stage productions at a similar pace and had already brought the same energy to Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes and River. For Ueda, it was a familiar working method applied to a considerably more complicated project.

A Screenplay Written for 45 Yellow Seats

Ueda often begins with a specific location. He first studies the space, its corridors, staircases and neighbouring rooms. Only then does he start thinking about the kind of story that could unfold there.

For You Are the Film, he chose Tollywood, a small cinema in Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa district. Europe Kikaku had previously collaborated with the venue on Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes and River, both directed by Junta Yamaguchi. Their third project together would be the first to be filmed directly in Tokyo.

Tollywood has only 45 seats, all of them a distinctive shade of yellow. It occupies the second floor of a building that also houses the British pub Good Heavens, the Mikazuki Rock bar and the Chicago vintage clothing store. Corridors, staircases and the surrounding streets connect the various businesses in Shimokitazawa, a neighbourhood filled with small theatres, music venues, performers and aspiring artists.

The layout of the building provided the foundation for the entire film. On one side of the cinema, Ueda created the story of playwright Madoka and her theatre company. On the other, he placed musician Kazuma and his disintegrating band. The screen at the centre of the building initially separates the two worlds before eventually bringing them together.

Madoka watches a film called Sangenjaya Escape, starring Kazuma. Kazuma, meanwhile, watches Shimokitazawa Exodus, with Madoka as its protagonist. Each considers the other a fictional character while believing themselves to be the real spectator.

The visual identity of the film developed in a similar way. The yellow seats became one of its central colour references, joined by distinctive costumes, illuminated bars and the colourful streets of Shimokitazawa. Ueda wanted to preserve the neighbourhood’s disorderly character, where theatre artists, musicians, students, pubs and second-hand clothing stores exist side by side.

 

The Leading Roles Went to Two Actors From the Stage

Shortly before making the film, Ueda had worked with Marika Ito and Kai Inowaki on a stage production. During its tour, he told them that he had the beginnings of an idea for a film that would shoot several months later. At that point, the finished screenplay did not yet exist.

Ito was already familiar with his working methods from the series Don’t Waste Your Time, Lovers and was a fan of his previous films. Ueda knew that she enjoyed science fiction and complicated narrative structures, so he wrote her the role of a playwright who finds herself inside a similarly elaborate story.

The actors’ stage experience proved useful during filming. The long takes required precise timing, controlled movement and the ability to restart an entire scene from the beginning.

 

Three Days for a Single Conversation

Madoka and Kazuma rarely share the same physical space. They communicate through a cinema screen, with each sitting inside a different filmic reality. They have four extended conversations inside Tollywood, each constructed with a different composition and rhythm.

One of these conversations was filmed in three stages. First, the crew recorded Madoka speaking into an empty space. Her footage was then projected onto Tollywood’s real cinema screen. Kazuma performed his side of the conversation opposite the prepared image. Finally, the crew returned to Madoka and filmed the additional material required to complete the scene.

The direction of the actors’ gazes created another complication. Kazuma sits in the auditorium and looks up at the screen. While filming her projected section, Madoka therefore had to look slightly downward. Only from the camera’s side angle did it appear as though the two characters were looking directly into each other’s eyes.

Whenever the camera moved through the auditorium, the prerecorded image on the screen also had to change at exactly the right moment. In one scene, the camera follows Kazuma as he leaves the auditorium. As its angle toward the screen shifts, Madoka’s position within the projected footage must also move. The crew calculated the entire sequence in advance and combined the different layers during filming.

Ueda compared the technique to an optical illusion. The actors were not actually looking at one another, but from the camera’s perspective, their conversation appears completely natural.

The ingenuity behind YOU ARE THE FILM isn't the only example of filmmakers stretching limited resources into something memorable at Fantasia. HOME BODIES similarly transforms a single location and practical craftsmanship into an unsettling sci-fi world that feels much larger than its budget.

Only 31 Scenes, and None of Them Simple

The screenplay contained only 31 scenes. Many are lengthy and connect several locations, large groups of characters and prerecorded projections. Susumu Wada’s camera follows the actors through the streets, along staircases, between bars and into the cinema.

During the long takes, the actors sometimes had to wait until the camera turned toward them before delivering their lines. Outside the frame, crew members moved props, launched prepared videos and arranged the next part of the sequence. Everyone had to know the exact moment they were expected to enter the action.

In one of the later action scenes, for example, a character catches a bullet with a frying pan. As soon as the camera turns away, a crew member replaces the undamaged pan with another version containing a bullet hole. During a brief shot of the screen, someone else must launch a prepared clip at precisely the correct second. The film contains several similar exchanges and carefully timed interventions.

Every completed trick was immediately checked on a monitor. When all the elements finally aligned, the crew responded with cheers and applause. Ueda recalled that the production sometimes felt like a student film, with a group of friends discovering for the first time that their complicated idea could actually work.

 

The Two Films Watched Each Other During Production

The two storylines were filmed largely separately. Madoka worked with her theatre company, while Kazuma shared his world with the band and the gangsters. The actors often did not meet and effectively created two independent films.

The finished footage was later projected inside Tollywood. Marika Ito watched Kazuma’s storyline, while Kai Inowaki viewed Madoka’s. The premise of the film was therefore repeated behind the scenes. Two groups of actors sat in a cinema and watched films about one another, gradually reacting to the work of their colleagues.

For Ueda, this was one of the most enjoyable side effects of the concept. He could review the daily footage directly inside the cinema, while the actors were able to watch parts of the story whose filming they had never witnessed.

A Typhoon, a Street Festival and Cabin Fever in the Cinema

The weather repeatedly complicated the compressed shooting schedule. A typhoon approached Tokyo before eventually changing direction, but it still brought enough rain to prevent the planned outdoor filming. The crew moved inside Tollywood and spent the day working on scenes between the auditorium and the screen.

A local street festival was also taking place nearby. The noise and crowds disrupted additional exterior scenes, forcing most of the team back into the cinema.

After several hours inside the enclosed auditorium, repeatedly watching the same projected material, the work became exhausting. Ueda wrote in his diary that scenes like these should be filmed for no more than three hours per day. After longer sessions, it became increasingly difficult to remember which version of the conversation belonged to which filmic reality.

Members of the crew also began carrying You Are the Film into their dreams. The cinematographer described dreams with three overlapping layers: Madoka’s story, Kazuma’s story and the reality of the production. The film’s parallel worlds continued to merge in his mind for several hours after he returned home.

 

Why the Film Begins Before Anyone Enters the Auditorium

Ueda was interested in the complete experience of visiting a cinema. The film therefore follows its characters through the streets, shows them buying tickets, entering the auditorium and waiting for the screening to begin. Other films often skip these ordinary moments, but they play an important role in You Are the Film.

For Ueda, a cinema is a quiet space within a noisy city. A person walks through its doors, sits in the darkness and enters another world for several dozen minutes. When they return to the street, the same buildings and businesses may appear slightly different.

Madoka and Kazuma take that experience several steps further. Each watches another person’s life and, through the camera, sees things the protagonist cannot notice. They can warn one another, provide missing pieces of the story and offer encouragement when it appears that their respective films cannot end happily.

The film’s complicated mechanism therefore grows out of a familiar feeling shared by almost anyone who regularly visits the cinema. Somebody else’s story can help us better understand our own life.

From a Tiny Cinema to the Fantasia Film Festival

You Are the Film had its world premiere at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, where it received both the White Raven Award and the Audience Award. Following further appearances in Asia, it arrived at the 30th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. It held its North American premiere in the New Flesh competition on July 19.

The story of You Are the Film grew out of the layout of a single building. Its most complicated conversation required three days of filming, and the cinema where it was made contained only 45 yellow seats. Several months later, its two interconnected worlds were travelling to festivals around the world.

Makoto Ueda isn't the only filmmaker at Fantasia proving that imagination matters more than scale. Radek also explores the wonderfully chaotic UNIDENTIFIED MURDER, another inventive genre puzzle where clever storytelling keeps turning the audience's expectations upside down.