{"id":61714,"date":"2021-10-03T01:29:06","date_gmt":"2021-10-03T01:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=61714"},"modified":"2021-10-03T01:29:07","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T01:29:07","slug":"bilal-kawazoes-film-whole-tackles-the-experience-of-being-mixed-race-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=61714","title":{"rendered":"Bilal Kawazoe\u2019s film \u2018Whole\u2019 tackles the experience of being mixed race in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bilal Kawazoe\u2019s film \u2018Whole\u2019 tackles the experience of being mixed race in Japan<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The Japan Times<\/a>
\n2021-09-30<\/p>\n

Mark Schilling<\/strong><\/a>, Film Critic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>
\nIn Bilal Kawazoe\u2019s<\/a> ‘Whole<\/a>,’ Usman Kawazoe<\/a> (left) and Kai Sandy<\/a> (right) play two biracial men who bond over coming to terms with their identity while living in Japan<\/a>.<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In Japanese, the word \u201ch\u0101fu<\/a>\u201d \u2014 a colloquial term for people who are half-Japanese \u2014 is a label that some accept, but others reject, preferring such terms as \u201cdaburu<\/a>\u201d (double) or \u201cmikkusu<\/a>\u201d (mix).<\/p>\n

So seeing the title of Bilal Kawazoe\u2019s<\/a> new film \u201cWhole<\/a>,\u201d which tells the story of two biracial men of radically different backgrounds in Kobe<\/a> who become friends, my first thought was that Kawazoe, who is of Japanese and Pakistani parentage, had come up with yet another alternative to the h\u0101fu label.<\/p>\n

Not so, as he explains in a video call. The title instead refers to the characters\u2019 quests to become \u201cwhole\u201d in terms of their identity. Kawazoe says his brother, Usman, came to him with the idea of \u201cmaking a film based on the identity crises and the experiences of mixed people in Japan<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a lot of research and realized there wasn\u2019t really a narrative film (on that theme),\u201d he continues. Instead, they found films that were \u201cquite stereotypical or just one-sided.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we kind of felt this sense of responsibility to make an honest film on this whole mixed-race experience,\u201d he says…<\/p>\n