David Boyle is unlike any 27-year-old you’ve ever met. With an astonishing number of accomplishments under his belt, he has directed his second film, White on Rice, which will be screened at the 2009 Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival (Saturday Nov 14th, 5pm at Innis Town Hall). When he was 19, David lived in Sydney, Australia, where he learned to speak Japanese through a language course. Ever since then, he has been deeply interested with all things Japanese, and went on to direct his film, Big Dreams, Little Tokyo in 2006. This year, he brings us White on Rice, a highly anticipated comedy featuring Hiroshi Watanabe, Lynn Chen and James Kyson Lee. I was excited to pick his brain about inspiration, filmmaking and the meaning behind White on Rice.

For your fans around the world, can you give us a quick synopsis of your featured film, White on Rice?

Basically the film is about a guy named Hajime, played by Hiroshi Watanabe, coming to terms with his divorce while he's camping out in the basement of his sister's house. His situation is rather humiliating--his brother-in-law hates him, and he has to share a bunk bed with his 10-year-old nephew--but it doesn't seem to bother him. He's just one of those wonderful people who takes life in stride and never lets things get him down. His family is always trying to get him to move on with his life, but he sticks to them "like white on rice."

Does the film represent or relate to a certain time in your personal life?

Some aspects of the film are based on my own life, or on my family members.  I think every family has a Hajime-type figure, and at certain points I felt like I was the black sheep.

Plus, I think everyone at some point has fallen in love with the wrong person and made a mess of things.

What inspired you to make this film?

I wanted to make a film that reflected, in an amusing way, my own feelings about familial relationships, growing up, and finding true love. I wanted to create a realistic on-screen family that was also a bit unconventional. I worked on the script for a long time, but when I met Hiroshi Watanabe, something clicked and I started tailoring the leading role for him. When he finished shooting Letters from Iwo Jima, we started to collaborate together on developing the project and things came together from there.

What would you say is the source of your passion for filmmaking and storytelling?

Movies are such a malleable art form; so many different filmmakers use the same medium to tell a myriad of different stories. I guess I've always been a fan of character-driven movies. I love films that introduce you to a set of characters that become like old friends by the time the credits roll. As a kid, watching movies as diverse as Hannah and Her Sisters, Mr. Hulot's Holiday, and even What About Bob, I was struck by how much affection I had for the characters--a feeling that deepened upon repeat viewings. I hope my films inspire the same emotions in my viewers.

What has been the most unexpected thing to happen on set while shooting this film?

I would say watching the performance of newcomer Justin Kwong--who plays the 10-year-old nephew Bob--was the most unexpected delight of the whole process. He'd never acted in a movie before, so I thought there would be a lot of hand-holding involved. It was quite the opposite; he knew exactly what he was doing. By his second or third scene, he held himself like a seasoned pro.

By Christina Jung for Schema Magazine.

White on Rice is screening on Saturday November 14, 2009, 5:00 PM at Innis Town Hall

Filmmaker Profiles are done in partnership with Schema Magazine.