"Kakera" director Momoko Ando becomes the face of UNIQLO

by Chris MaGee

On my recent trip to Tokyo I was lucky enough to catch up wioth a number of filmmaker friends and guests who had attended the Shinsedai Cinema Festival here in Toronto. One filmmaker I was sad I couldn't meet up with was "Kakera: A Piece of Our Life" writer and director Momoko Ando. It wasn't without good reason though. Ando has been very busy writing the follow up to "Kakera", a project which I have been sworn to secrecy, but to help in raising her profile to in turn raise the profile of her next film Ando has joined such blockbuster stars as Meisa Kuroki and Ryuhei Matsuda and has been signed to appear in adds for Japanese casual wear retailers UNIQLO. I saw one of her posters in the window and was taken off guard, and now Ando is appearing in a TV spot for UNIQLO that you can check out below. Lesson learned from this? If you're an indie filmmaker in Japan, even if you come from famous stock like Ando does, you have to hustle to raise the funding for your next project!