“HOMESICK BLUES”, the 15-minute short that my wife Junko Kajino and I made in Osaka, Japan, will have its world premiere Oct. 8 at the Chicago International Film Festival.
The short is a prelude to our forthcoming feature film, also called “Homesick Blues.”
The short stars Japanese pop singer Zoey as an 18-year-old girl who runs away from her Osaka home, headed for Chicago hell-bent on becoming a blues singer.
Music by Shun Kikuta of Koko Taylor’s Blues Machine. Stephen Combs shot and edited. Sound by Benjamin Steger, Mark Messing and Adam Frick.
“Homesick Blues” screens in CIFF’s Homegrown program, Saturday, Oct. 8 at 4:15 p.m., Monday, Oct. 10 at 9:15 p.m., and Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6:15 p.m., at AMC River East, 322 E. Illinois St.
The short will also show Oct. 24 and 26 at the Hawaii International Film Festival, and at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival Nov. 11-17.
We’re also developing the microbudget feature “Untitled Okinawa Project,” a character-driven psychological thriller, for planned production this fall.
