Projects
Yellow Chrysanthemum
Erika, a young Japanese-Brazilian girl, struggles with grief while divided between two cultures.
Sao Paulo, 2014. During the World Cup hosted in Brazil, teenager Erika Oguihara lives on the border between two worlds. As a descendant of the Japanese diaspora, she struggles to fit into her own country and rejects her family’s culture. Her aversion is well-founded: when she was seven, her cousin and best friend disappeared at a traditional festival in São Paulo’s “Japanese neighbourhood” while her mother was taking care of them. Seven years later, the unspoken trauma gradually emerges in a household haunted by silence. Things start to shift when Erika meets Bianca, a Black classmate who revives a dormant sense of friendship. Their relationship is seen as a threat by Erika’s family, who fear a “non-Japanese” influence. However, Erika’s desire to be with Bianca drives her to confront her family, exposing wounds that had been hidden for years. When these two worlds clash, Erika breaks a silence that has long been imposed and discovers that, in death, she can find what never dies.
My name is André Hayato Saito, grandson of Shigueru Oguihara, who, in 1935, embarked on a three-month journey by ship to Brazil, making me part of the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. She was the first person I saw die when I was eleven, and it was also the first time I saw my father cry. From that day on, death became a recurring subject in my mind. In Yellow Chrysanthemum, I explore the theme of grief. How can the protagonist overcome loss within a family culture that speaks through silence? Erika’s inherent “interplace” between Japan and Brazil becomes a lens that examines how these two contrasting cultures deal with death. The quiet and the noise, the tradition and the transgression – all blend together, shaping Erika’s experience of trauma into a quest for self-understanding. Yellow Chrysanthemum is a mature coming of age story that reveals how inseparable culture and context are when it comes to coping with grief.
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