From The Screenwriting Lab to ‘Rental Family’ : Hikari on Creating Authenticity in Her Films
“It doesn’t have to be a big idea. It could start small.”
For writer/director HIKARI, the truth to an idea is far more important than the size of one. The Screenwriting Lab Fellow believes that finding a story that you feel passionate about is the key to success.
“It takes time to make movies… and if I make it, it has to be very special.” For HIKARI, it’s critical to be making the story she feels like she’s supposed to be making. With her latest film, Rental Family, that story is a fish-out-of-water tale about an American actor who starts working for a Japanese rental family service, played by Brenden Fraser in his first role since winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2023. These services hire actors to stand in for a missing or nonexistent person in real people’s lives.
The feeling of disconnection of both Fraser’s character and the people who needed the human connection that rental services provide spoke to HIKARI. “I came to America when I was 18… Being a foreigner in a culture where you don’t feel like you belong, there’s instant loneliness, right? There’s nobody who looks like you, who speak your language, who understand what you’re all about.
“Also, the world we live in now where everybody uses devices as tools to communicate, there’s far less physical connection and interaction amongst people, even friends,” she said. “That’s something that I was figuring out, like, how can we close those gaps between the people without the devices? What can we do to make people feel more connected?”
HIKARI credits Film Independent for helping find her community in the film ecosystem. She helped a friend on a Project Involve set as a producer, and it opened up a new world for her. After seeing the Artist Development Labs in action, she applied and was accepted to take her first script through the Screenwriting Lab.
“Having all the fellow giving you feedback and meeting the mentors, who have read our scripts and provide us their thoughts, or just even learn about their experiences, that was just more than anything that I could ask for.” She recalled talks from Sean Baker (Anora), and Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic), as amazing learning opportunities and credited the Lab with helping her see a career beyond just the film she was working on.
The script she developed, 37 Seconds, is the story of a young Japanese woman with cerebral palsy who dreams of being a manga artist but struggles with her family’s and outside world’s expectations. She hoped to inspire people to take a second look at the world around them.
“We could give in and live passively, or if you listen to your instinct and follow your heart, there’s always a road to a new world. Anything is possible That was a message I wanted to share for 37 Seconds.” The film went on to premiere at the Berlinale, receiving Panorama Audience Award and CICAE Art Cinema Award.
When it comes to advice for filmmakers who’d want to apply to the Screenwriting Lab, she said simply to find your own story. “Don’t judge yourself. Write what you know. Write what your heart tells you, what you want to share with the world.”
“If you have a goal, don’t think anything else… Live in the moment, as if you’ve already reached that goal. And no matter what other people say, don’t listen to it. Don’t even doubt yourself for a second, because the doubt is an energy that would pull you down,” she said.
“All you have to do is focus on that goal, your vision, and you’ll get there– and then the future will open up.”
Applications for the Film Independent Screenwriting Lab are now open. The deadline for non-Members is August 25th, while Film Independent Members have until September 8th.
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