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Sundance-winning director Josef Kubota Wladyka joins INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE to discuss HA-CHAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!, his joyous, deeply personal new film starring Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi.
Kikuchi plays Haru, a woman whose life in Tokyo has revolved around ballroom dancing with her husband, Luis. When tragedy suddenly upends that world, Haru retreats from life — until family, friendship, desire and dance begin pulling her back toward it.
Wladyka talks about the deeply personal inspiration he found in his Japanese mother, and how that connection helped shape a story about grief, resilience, aging, identity and the complicated ways people begin again. He also discusses collaborating with Kikuchi, building a character who is allowed to be messy and contradictory, and using dance as an emotional language when words are no longer enough.
The conversation explores the film's balance of humor, tenderness and magical realism; the challenge of moving between sorrow and joy without sentimentalizing either; and the importance of allowing older characters to retain desire, unpredictability and agency.
Wladyka also reflects on the film's journey to Sundance, where his direction was honored, and on the larger idea at the heart of HA-CHAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!: that grief and joy are not opposites, and that sometimes the act of moving forward begins quite literally by moving your body.
A warm, funny and surprisingly moving conversation about loss, love, desire — and why we should never stop dancing.
00:00 — Introduction: HA-CHAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY!
01:32 — Meet Director Josef Kubota Wladyka
03:45 — Finding Joy in a Story About Grief
06:25 — The Personal Story Behind the Film
09:15 — Rinko Kikuchi and Creating Haru
12:10 — When Life Gets Messy
15:25 — Dance as an Emotional Language
18:35 — Grief, Desire and Starting Over
21:45 — Humor, Fantasy and Magical Realism
24:45 — Japan, Family and Cultural Identity
27:30 — Sundance and Trusting the Film
30:05 — Why We Should Never Stop Dancing
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