On his Instagram account, director Daisuke Shimada recalls the release of his short film, Tadaima, on this very day ten years ago. The film’s young star was Komatsu Nana, a model who hardly was a household name at the time but who would soon stun the world with a brilliant career as an actress and a figurehead for Chanel. This is a good opportunity for a repost of the article below, published on this blog in June 2019…
The DVD, a nicely packaged gatefold, is still available from this online store: Daisuke Shimada Store.
The company which produced this short film (Qotori Films) no longer exists and the director’s facebook page disappeared for some time… the good news is that director Daisuke Shimada is back in business on both Instagram and Facebook and it is now possible to purchase the Tadaima DVD again !
The DVD is a nice single disc digipack with a booklet, the film on HD and a bonus music clip, an alternate version of Tin Plate/ブリキ by Radwimps, featuring Nana Komatsu. The short film was released in 2013, and it actually was the first real cinema appearance of the actress, before The World of Kanako.
It’s a moving story, a trip on a taxi to the Tohoku region where a teen girl, Sumire, has lost her home and parents because of the terrible tsunami which hit Japan on March 11, 2011. More details about Tadaima on this post which was published in June 2019: Tadaima Short Film.
Please read! I’ve left the whole article the way it was written and published back in June 2019. The Tadaima DVD, once a very hard to find collectable item is available again from the director’s store: Daisuke Shimada Online Store. Post modified on August 15, 2021 (new edit on 30/12/2022: minor corrections & some new pics).
Sumire, a teenage girl, convinces a driver* to take her to her homeplace in the Tohoku region. There, they find an area which was ravaged by the tsunami that followed the megathrust earthquake on March 11, 2011. The disaster destroyed her house and took away her parents. Through compassion and carefully chosen words, the man will offer the young girl what she has lost: the will to survive and live.
This short film (runtime is approximately 27′) was presented in 2013 at the Tama Cinema Forum. Directed by Daisuke Shimada and produced by Qotori Films, it cast only two actors, Shohei Uno and a complete newcomer in the world of cinema, 17-year-old Nana Komatsu.
Tadaima enjoyed a second life when the company decided to release it on DVD in October 2016. That was good timing as the actress and model film and media exposure was quite spectacular that year. The digipack item included a booklet, the film on DVD and a bonus music clip, an alternate version of Tin Plate/ブリキ by Radwimps, featuring Nana Komatsu.
*according to the Japanese script, the man is a small entrepreneur with his business car…
N.K. International 