Canvas Playgrounds: A Portal into Multicultural Identity
An exclusive interview with hiroki berrecloth.
A Coming-of-Age Tale with a Twist
“It’s a young coming-of-age drama with a twist as we dive in and out of a child’s imagination and inner turmoil through animation.”
Canvas Playgrounds is a short film that delves into the complexities of identity through the eyes of Megumi, a young British-Japanese girl. The narrative unfolds in both live-action and animation, offering a unique perspective on multiculturalism and self-discovery.
Blending Languages, Expanding Britishness
“The story of Megumi is more universal than her ethnic identity and I’d hate for it to be limited to that. My hope is that this film represents not just a British-Japanese or even a British-East-Asian experience but Britishness. Revising what it can mean and how it can feel to live on this island we call home.”
The film's script seamlessly integrates Japanese and English, reflecting the director's own upbringing.
‘Better Days’ (dir. Derek Tsang)
Animation as Emotional Expression
“Animation becomes an extension of Megumi’s psychology—her personal creations manifest differently than artworks produced by others, mirroring how she relates to her own versus external artistic voices.”
"The film uses contrasting animation approaches to distinguish between Megumi’s intimate creative process and the external art world she navigates.
artist: Yury Aleksanyan
From Concept to Creation
“I love the use of portals in storytelling... I could talk a lot about portals but what I particularly like is the precise laws around each portal. Who can use them.”
The idea for the film emerged from Hiroki’s fascination with art as a portal to different worlds.
Initially conceived as a feature, the story evolved into a short film focusing on Megumi's experiences at age twelve.
“I didn’t want to compromise on the feature idea so decided to create a prologue film about the same character; a story from when she’s twelve years old.”
An Actor’s Insight Behind the Camera
“While auditioning, you read a lot of scripts, so I like to think I have a feel for dialogue and pacing... I feel confident when it comes to directing performance because I’ll be able to approach it empathetically which will be essential when collaborating with child actors.”
Drawing from His acting background, Hiroki brings a nuanced understanding of performance to the filmmaking process.
“I’m massively excited about this part of the project. I’ve worked alongside child actors before and I was in awe of their attitude and performance.
Some of my favourite films are held by child performances: ‘Close’ (dir. Lukas Dohnt) and ‘Monster’ (dir. Hirokazu Koreeda) in particular inspired me.
Child actors are kind of the mystery box that can deliver absolute magic.”
You’ll be working with these young actors on sensitive subjects, like bullying. How do you plan to approach this? Is this an aspect of the project you find daunting? Exciting?
Building a Collaborative Team
“It was important that the lead producer be ethnically East Asian so they would connect with the storytelling, and also a woman, to offer a female perspective on our telling of a young girl. So Emma coming on board was massive. Joining us is Darius and Niamh making up a pretty classy core production team.”
The production team was assembled with a focus on shared vision and diverse perspectives.
From left: emma KYUNG Mi SheldRICK, Céline Glasman James, Hiroki Berrecloth, Mark Choi, Darius Shu
Looking Ahead
“I know what shots I want so it’s learning the language to get what’s in my head to the team that I’m working on. Every small victory feels massively rewarding.”
As pre-production progresses, Hiroki expresses excitement about the learning journey.
The upcoming casting process is anticipated with enthusiasm, aiming to find the right voices to bring the story to life.
Rapid Fire Round
“Start with a story you’ve written. This is the fourth script I’ve written, and the first I felt like I wanted people to watch... Go to community filmmaker events. Take the time to talk to filmmakers coz you can’t do it by yourself.”
Advice for Aspiring Directors?
Dealing with Writer’s Block?
“Leave the desk. Writing rarely comes from the inside—look out of yourself.”
Go-To Snack on Set?
“Anything and everything. But I’d quite like to have mini eggs on set.”
“I’m going to have to give a few. Including all of Ghibli.
Standouts : ‘Porco Rosso’, ‘Laputa’, ‘The Wind Rises’, Satoshi Kon’s ‘Tokyo Godfathers’.
Love the animation in ‘Slam Dunk’, ‘Puss in Boots : The Last Wish’, and ‘Spiderverse’ (the first one).”
Favourite Animated Film?