top of page

BISFF2024|Correspondence 通信计划:Fade 遗迹

BISFF Correspondence 通信计划


This program involves conducting brief email interviews with the directors of the international films featured in the festival, in lieu of the traditional Q&A session that follows the screenings. Through this program, we hope to provide a platform for filmmakers to discuss their work and share their insights with our audience in China.


为了跨越种种障碍,开辟更多交流空间,我们设置了“BISFF Correspondence 通信计划”,对部分国际单元的参展作者进行系列访谈,这些访谈将在作品放映后发布在联展各个媒体平台。




Fade|名残|遗迹

Asako Ujita

2023|0:14:22|Japan, UK|Japanese



Director: Asako Ujita

Interviewer & Translator: Yu Qiao (Chelsea)

Coordinator & Editor: Suliko


导演:宇治田麻子

采访、翻译:乔屿

统筹、编辑:苏丽珂




Q1: The film tenderly unfolds the daily life of a graceful grandmother, depicting her eating habits, chanting routine, and warm friendship. Is it based on a true story? What inspired you to write her story?


影片以非常温柔的方式记录了一位优雅祖母的日常生活——饮食习惯、祈祷以及和其女性朋友的晚年友谊。人物在现实中有原型吗?为什么写下她的故事?


A1: In my early teenage years, I lived with my grandmother, who you see in the film. Just her and I in a small apartment in Osaka, this experience nurtured a unique and unconventional familial bond between us. Likewise, it made me realise how affection and care could be told through the gestures of everyday life. I was having a difficult time in life, and the new chapter with her was like the start of my transition. More than 10 years passed, and I still remember vividly – her in a chair, resting with a hand fan in summer, her hands peeling a fruit, her back walking with a shopping trolly, and her waving to me in the sunset. These moments at the time were not necessarily the most significant. Yet, they now conjure me so much sensation, nostalgia, and a sense of love—gesture and repetition, and how they unfold the intricacy and beauty of life without a language.


在我十几岁的时候,我和祖母——也就是影片中的主人公——住在一起。我和她住在大阪的一间小公寓里,这段经历培养了我们之间独特且非传统式的家庭纽带。同时,这段经历也让我意识到,亲情和关爱是如何通过日常生活中的举止行为表现出来的。我当时正处于人生的艰难时期,和她在一起后的生活新篇章,成为我转变的开始。十多年过去了,我依然清晰地记得:夏天,她坐在椅子上,拿着手摇扇休息;她的手在削水果;她推着购物车散步的背影;她在夕阳下向我挥手。这些瞬间在当时并不一定是最重要的。然而,它们现在却让我产生了如此多的感动、怀念和爱的感觉——姿势与重复,以及它们如何在没有语言的情况下展现出生活的错综复杂和美丽。



Q2: The sound design truly captivated me, and I loved how the film used so many authentic natural sounds. I'm curious to know what feelings you were hoping to convey. And who are those people laughing and talking in the dark?


影片的声音设计,特别是自然音的使用非常动人。想要传达的效果是什么?是谁在黑暗中嬉笑聊天?


A2: The sound design was such an important part. I didn’t intend to convey a certain feeling by sound itself. I was more particular about the distance and proximity of sound and how that could potentially and indirectly create emotions such as loneliness, longing, and resilience. It is like calling spirit by the poetry of sound. In one scene, a gong bell from a temple echoes in a deep mountain, highlighting grandmother’s solitude against the vast nature. In the other scene, what is only heard is her breathing. Nothing else. Even the ambient sound is muted, making her physicality close to viewers.


About the people laughing and talking in the dark, it is from a cassette I found in my great-aunt’s home. It records the voice of my grandmother, her family and relatives, gathering on her passed mother’s anniversary.


声音设计是非常重要的一部分。我并不打算通过声音本身来传达某种感觉。我更注重声音的“远近”,以及声音如何潜在地、间接地营造出孤独、渴望和坚韧等情绪。大概可理解为用声音的诗意召唤精神。在一个场景中,来自寺庙的锣鼓钟声在深山中回荡,凸显了祖母在广袤大自然中的孤独。而在另一个场景中,观众只听得到她的呼吸声,再无其他,甚至连周围的声音也被压低,这使得她的形体仿佛近在咫尺。


关于黑暗中人们的谈笑,这是我在曾姑妈家找到的一盘磁带。它记录了我祖母、她的家人和亲戚在她去世的母亲周年纪念日聚会时的声音。



Fade, Asako Ujita, 2023



Q3: Natural disasters and their irreparable impact on ordinary people, particularly in rural areas, have been a significant theme in numerous works by Japanese directors. In this film, you employed audio news reports as a source of information, helping both the protagonist and viewers understand the social and historical context. I wondered whether the report came from a historical archive or if it was synchronous sound. What thoughts did you have while writing about these historically traumatic events? How can film help people explore and understand collective social memories and history?


自然灾害及其对普通人,尤其是住在乡村地区的人们,造成的难以修复的影响一直是许多日本导演作品中探讨的主题。影片中,你使用了新闻播报作为背景音,帮助主人公和观众了解社会信息和历史背景。我很好奇这部分的资料是历史档案的穿插引用还是同期声?在书写社会历史和创伤事件时,影像如何帮助你探索和理解集体的社会记忆和历史事件?


A3: The report from an archive in response to what I have seen/heard on the news, particularly in the last 15 years. News report feels very repetitive although things have happened at a different time and place. Having spent my childhood in Japan, witnessing natural and artificial disasters, I have been interested in how these two types of catastrophes intertwine. Likewise, how these disastrous events influence social, political and cultural ideology. They seem inseparable. When it comes to the aftermath of disaster in our contemporary world, material recovery (e.g. infrastructure) is very much highlighted, whereas the core of an issue is often overlooked. A statue commemorates a catastrophic event in the form of “representation”. My question is: Is there a nest where our intergenerational trauma and collective memory can unfold and heal?


这份语音档案的使用回应了我在过去 15 年里在新闻中看到/听到的内容。虽然事情发生在不同的时间和地点,但新闻报道感觉非常重复。我在日本度过了童年,见证过自然灾害和人为灾害,我对这两种灾难如何交织在一起很感兴趣。同样,这些灾难事件如何影响社会、政治和文化意识形态,也是我关心的事情。在我们的当代世界中,谈到灾难的后果时,我们总是在说物质层面的重建(如基础设施的修复),却往往忽视问题的核心。一座雕像以 “再现” 的形式纪念灾难性事件。但我的问题是:我们代代相传的创伤和集体记忆是否有一个可以展开和愈合的巢穴?



Q4: I found the persimmon story really moving. I'm curious: how does it connect to the theme you want to dive into?


影片中出现的关于柿子的段落非常感人。它与主题有怎样的关联?


A4: A taxi driver I encountered in Tokyo told me the story of persimmon. He was curious about my Bolex (I must have looked quite funny carrying so much equipment by myself on top of my two big suitcases...), and he asked me what I would be filming. He is from Fukushima, and his region also has a tradition and history of making dried persimmons. Later, my grandmother told me the story of persimmon in her own version. It interested me how vernacular and folkfore are diverse by region and individual. I wanted to incorporate this by quoting the taxi driver’s story in the grandmother’s dialogue. My film is a patchwork of someone else’s memories and dreams.


我在东京遇到的一位出租车司机给我讲了柿子的故事。他对我的 Bolex 相机很好奇(我一个人在两个大箱子里背着这么多设备,看起来一定很滑稽......),他问我要拍什么。他来自福岛,他所在的地区也有制作柿饼的传统和历史。后来,我的祖母用她自己的方式向我讲述了柿子的故事。我感兴趣的是,不同地区和个人的乡土和民俗是多种多样的。我想通过在奶奶的对白中引用出租车司机的故事来融入这一点。我的电影是由他人的记忆和梦想拼凑而成的。



Fade, Asako Ujita, 2023



Q5: The most enchanting and lyrical moment occurs when she closes her eyes, immersed in dreams and attuned to the world. You then depict the image of the leaves, the creases of her fingers, and the tiny worm on the fruit. What is your interpretation of the idea of ‘cinematic poetry’ from both textual and visual perspectives?


影片中特别迷人的时刻发生在祖母闭上眼睛,感受世界的段落里。影像呈现了叶子的纹路,指部的褶皱,还有水果上的小虫子。你对于“影像诗学”有着怎样的理解?


A5: For me, “cinematic poetry” is where imagination and reality entangle, offering us alternative ways to see the world around us.


对于我来说,它指的是想象与现实的纠缠,为我们提供了看待周围世界的另一种方式。



Q6: How would you interpret the title of the film ‘Fade’? What does the verb ‘fade’ signify to you?


你如何解释题目“遗迹”,以及作为动词的fade(褪色、消逝)对你来说意味着什么?


A6: Fade is nostalgia for a season, family, & life that one has lived. Likewise, Fade is the voice of a phantom that remains in the present. The past is conjured by the bitter-sweet flavour of persimmons. Love, empathy, & struggles within everyday life transform into resilience and repair.


它是对季节、家庭和生活的怀念。同样,也是留在当下的幽灵的声音。过去的记忆被柿子苦中带甜的味道所唤起。而爱、同情和日常生活中的挣扎则转化为韧性和修复。








bottom of page