FIREFLY DREAMS - CAST & STAFF

The majority of people who see the film assume that Maho is the real thing - a genuine 17 year old teenage rebel - but when she came to the first screening nobody, not even the director recognised her. In reality 21 year old Maho hated the peroxide blonde hair she had to dye for the part and her personality couldn't be further from the directionless Naomi. She has been training as an actress since the age of 18, first in Nagoya Arts University and then with a talent agency in Tokyo. She was selected from over a thousand professionals and amateurs who auditioned for the role. Donald Richie in The Herald Tribune wrote: "Maho Ukai as the city rat who blooms into the country mouse, is, in her first acting role, perfect."

Minami Yoshie is instantly recognizeable to millions of Japanese TV viewers as the character actress who specializes in loveable grandmother roles. However, only diehard fans would know her name and many would be surprised to learn about her long stage career which began in 1934 as one of the "male" roles in the prestigious all woman "Takarazuka Review". She left the Takarazuka in the late thirties but returned to work as a serious actress after the war. As a stage actress she has at one time or another won most of Japan's major theatre awards and she is still working at the age of 85. During the fifties and sixties she was also in demand for film work and appeared as the teacher in Kurosawa's "Ikiru" and in numerous other supporting roles. There are many parallels between Yoshie Minami herself and Mrs. Koide who she plays and during the filming dialogue was rewritten to incorporate Minami San's own experience.

As a recent member of the Osaka-based Yoshimoto Kogyo Theatre group, Tsutomu is currently engaged mainly in work on the stage. However, his versatility as a performer is testimony to his wide experience in film and TV, as well as participation in a comedy duo. Tsutomu is a very disciplined actor, which can be attributed to his interest and practice in the Japanese dance form of Butou.

Playing a role like that of Yumi (a young woman with learning difficulties) has its intrinsic difficulties. As part of her approach to this, one of this first things that Etsuko did was to visit a center for the educationally challenged to prepare herself for the audition, and was in subsequent visits research more thoroughly the part she was to play in the film. Among her numerous appearances on stage, Etsuko has also written and performed in her own production "The Body Clock".

John Williams was born in St.Albans, England in 1962 but spent most of his childhood in Wales. He began making films at the age of 14 on a second hand 16mm Bolex, which he bought after seeing Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, Wrath of God." Another film which made a poweful impression on him at the time was Kurosawa's "Dersu Uzala", which was his first contact with Japanese cinema.
He studied French and German Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he continued to make films and was active in student theatre. From 1986 to 1988 he worked as a French teacher in a comprehensive school in North London and began writing feature length screenplays. In 1988, he moved to Japan, where he has lived and worked ever since. During which time, he has travelled widely in Asia and Africa, and has written, directed and produced 8 films, including a video documentary shot in Sri Lanka and a drama/documentary about refugees in Japan.. In 1995 he established the production group 100 Meter Films and in 1999 100 Meter Films was registered as a Ltd. Company.
[Filmography]
- In Britain
1982, Trapped, 8 mins, 16mm, silent, b/w, Experimental.
1984, The Audition, 12mins, 16mm, silent b/w, Experimental.
1987, The Haunting, 12 mins, 16mm, sound, b/w, Narrative Fiction.
- In Japan
1991, Orpheus Pineapple, 30 mins, 8mm, sound, colour, Narrative Fiction.
1992, Sashimi, 10 mins, 8mm, sound, colour, Narrative Fiction.
1993, Promises, 30 mins, 8mm, sound and dialogue, colour, Narrative Fiction.
1994, Voices from Sri Lanka, 50 mins, High Eight Video, Documentary.
1995, The Man on the Platform, 20 mins, Documentary, Drama.
1996, Midnight Spin, 69 mins, 16mm, colour, Narrative Fiction.
1998, Ima Doko, 40 mins, Digital Video, Narrative Fiction.
2000, Firefly Dreams, 119 mins, 35mm, Dolby Stereo, Narrative Fiction.

Paul's interest in music started as a boy in Cornwall, England, playing the cornet and guitar. He attended the Royal Marine School of Music, and then played in her Majesty's Royal Marine Service for five years, after which he studied arranging at Leeds College of Music. His career has taken him all over the world, eventually coming to Japan in 1995. One of the greatest challenges in creating the score for the film was working with all the other musicians to fuse different ideas into one coherent vision. He has recently established his own recording studio, and is a festival organiser, bringing overseas musicians to Japan.

[CAST]
Naomi MAHO / Mrs. Koide YOSHIE MINAMI / Masaru TSUTOMU NIWA / Yumi ETSUKO KIMATA / Naomi's father ATSUSHI ONO / Naomi's Mother CHIE MIYAJIMA / Yumi's father SADAYASU YAMAKAWA / Yumi's Mother KYOKO KANEMOTO / Yumi's Grandfather HARUO NANAHARA / Tomoko AYAKO SATO / Yuji SHUNSUKE KABEYA
[STAFF]
Direcor JOHN WILLIAMS / Producers KAZUAKI KANEDA, MARTIN B. Z. RYCROFT, JOHN WILLIAMS / First Assistant Director MASAKI TAKADA / Cinematographer YOSHINOBU HAYANO / Lighting Director FUMIO SUGIYAMA / Sound Engineer AKIHIKO SUZUKI / Musical Director PAUL ROWE / Costume Stylist NORIKO IIDA / Makeup YUMIKO SUGIURA / Editor JOHN WILLIAMS / Second Assistant Director MASAKI OHISHI / Third Assistant Director HITOSHI YOSHIDA / Camera Assistants MOTOKI KINEMORI, KUMI KANDA, KOJI TSUCHIYA / Lighting Assistants MAKOTO HATANAKA, MITSUYO WATANABE, BUNGA HOSOI, MASAAKI NAKAMURA / Additional Lighting Assts KAZUYA MORIKAWA, SHIGERU NAGAOKA / Recording Assistants NAMI IGUCHI / Set Construction MICHIKAZU HATTORI / Set Decorator TSUTOMU OBOROKI / Continuity MARI IKEDA / Wardrobe YOSHIKA SUZUKI / Assistant Editor TREVOR ALMEIDA / Sound Editor AKIHIKO SUZUKI / Negative film Editor TETSUO NAKAMIZO / Casting MISAKO FURUKAWA, ROD MAILLARD / Actor Liaison YOKO MAEDA / Production Liaison SUSUMU KAMIYA / Location Manager TAKASHI MATSUURA / ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK A HAT'S ON Production - YUZO NIWA, PAUL ROWE, DAVE WALLANCE, DAVID DEAN, FREEMAN / Musicians HIROUMI TAKATSUKA(Ocean's Studio), MATTHEW HADFIELD, DEAN GASCOIGNE, JUNICHI FUJIMOTO, TAKAMICHI TSUGEI, KENYA IGAI, SHINJI KATSURAYAMA, WILD JUNKIE, WILLIAM MATHENY / Costumes Provided by glam.D, BRUNCH WORKS, SUEHIROYA, FUTABA / Associate Producers PAUL D.TANNER, BRIAN HULSE, ERIN BURKE, TOM GRUNDY / Special Thanks to PEOPLE OF HORAI-CHO, TOEI-CHO, SHINSHIRO-CITY