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INTERVIEW NORI SHIRASU

"SHIFTING POINT"

"Humans are like little germs spread on the surface of this vulnerable planet called earth. Some may have a problem with our different appearances. It is up to us whether we destroy ourselves and end our lives or team up and live together as one."

Born in Nagoya, Japan, an international multi-media artist begun painting at an early age. In 1997, after receiving a bachelor's degree in architecture from Chubu University, he moved to California. He earned a master's degree in studio arts from California State University, Los Angeles in 2004.

Nori has been featured in numerous studio and commercial projects throughout Los Angeles including the Tokyo Olympics & Paralympics Opening Receiption, LA Art Show, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Westime, Google, NBC Universal, Disney, Prada, American Apparel, and high-profile charity work with actor Danny Glover and City of Hope, to name a few.

In 2018, the short film Nori made with actor Pauletta Washington was screened at the Smithsonian African American Film Festival in Washington DC. In 2021, Nori completed his own film "Shifting Point". The film was screened at Hollywood Shorts Fest in April 2023. The film "Angola, do you hear us?", which Nori was credited as an animator was shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards.

Nori also studied theater arts and appeared in several projects, including IBM's 100 Year Anniversary commercial, a Virgin Mobile commercial, Beyoncé's "Girls" and in the TV show "Soul Train" from 1998 to 2000.

He draws on his nationality, experience in America and love of Jazz, Hiphop, pop culture, architecture and nightlife as inspiration for his art.

@norishirasu

Nori, you were the Writer, director, producer, composer, animator, voice actor, and editor on "Shifting Point". How were you able to balance every single role?

I look at different artistic disciplines as different dialects of the same language. I speak the language of art, therefore, all things I executed in this film was coming from the same source. They are just in different forms of art. Ever since I was a kid, my teachers and professors always told me to focus on one thing I was good at. I was always against the idea but didn't argue with them. I did not want to limit myself to become a one-demential person.

In the beginning of this film creation, I was looking for a team to make this film but I couldn't find one. Instead of waiting for someone to do something, I decided to make this film by myself. My objective was simple: To make a film that touches the audience's heart and make them think about our humanity, living condition and our future.

Do you feel like any specific life experiences you might have had inspired you towards creating this short film? If so, would you mind sharing any with us?

Since 2015, I had the opportunity to start working and building a friendship with actor Pauletta Washington. One of the films we made was officially selected and screened at the Smithsonian African American Film Festival in 2018. While making a film with her, I slowly begun to build the concept for my own film. As an artist and as a humanitarian, it has always been my vision to create an art that can unite people, love each other and work toward our future together. I was also inspired and greatly disturbed by the Travon Martin's tragic incident. The environmental issue has been discussed for many years but hasn't been resolved. It's time for us to make a giant step.

What was your creative process like when developing the concept and script for this film?

Just like the process of my fine art-making, I wanted to make this particular filmmaking experience to be organic and spontaneous. Therefore, writing a script wasn't the first thing I did. In fact, the script was created within the very last few weeks out of 6 years of creative process. I started with series of rough sketches and notes of short scenes that came to my mind. Then, later they are all bind together to become one seamless sequence. It was like pieces of a puzzle appeared in my mind and I had to keep making record of it. I had a vision of the overall look of the film but I allowed myself to improvise throughout the entire filmmaking process.

What are some of the most important steps you think we can take as individuals and as a society to build a more inclusive and sustainable future for ourselves and future generations?

We are like spec of dust in this universe. Some say we may be all related. Some say we are all 30th to 40th cousins. If that's the case, racism is a family issue. If your cousin is bulling your other cousin in your back yard, wouldn't you do something about it? Once we understand that we are all human first before we are black, white, Latin, Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern, LGBTQIA or whatever we are labeled with, we realize that we all belong to one race, the human race. I believe we all need to sit down together and listen to each other. More listening and understanding instead of trying to take leadership. Acknowledging each other's beauty and respect each other's culture, understand the mistakes we made and make sure not to repeat them ever again, then we can move forward together as one big team. Time is ticking.

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INTERVIEW NORI SHIRASU

INTERVIEW NORI SHIRASU

"SHIFTING POINT"

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