23:07

Poetic drama / 2025 / 29min / Ratio: 2.35:1 / Japan - Belgium - France

Cast: Ryo Haruyama (Ryo), Teruhito Watanabe (Teru). Director: Olivier Kazuma. Scenario: Olivier Kazuma. Producers: Olivier Kazuma, Raf Keunen, Patrice Boiteau. Assistant directors: Ryotaro Tamagawa, Ai Sasaki. Location manager: Taishi Watanabe. Director of photography: Di Wang. Assistant camera: Shin Kaminaga. Lighting: Kung Szu-Ching. Stage lighting: Hyuga Akiba. Costume designer: Ai Sasaki. Prop makers: Asami Marushita, Ai Sasaki. Editors: Olivier Kazuma, Ryotaro Tamagawa. Color grading: Kosuke Yazaki. VFX editor: Kung Szu-Ching. Sound mixer: Yudai Fukushima. Sound effects: Yusuke Iwata. Boom operator: Ayu Hosokawa. Sound assistants: Taishi Watanabe, Sae Ikeda. Music: Raf Keunen . Cello performed by Jeanne Maisonhaute. Painter: Mayumi Michihiro. Balloon artist: Taichi Kitazawa. Drivers: Taishi Watanabe, Shin Kaminaga. English subtitles: Maddie Baker. Poster designer: Mayka Cantú. Photographers: Ryohei Saito, PABO. Special thanks: Yves Chauris, Naoko Fuji, Hiroto Ogi, Motoharu Yamazaki, Shinseikan Theatre, Sunshine Aquarium, Yoyogi Park. Production: OLIFILM, EAR INN, PABO PRODUCTIONS.

“Sometimes, I feel like the boundary between reality and fiction is unclear. When I stand on stage, it's obviously me who is there, but the character is something created. The words I say and the gestures I make are conceived by someone else, yet the feeling inside me is real. The audience watches a world of fiction, but the emotions they feel are genuine. So, what should we use to define reality?”

These words form the opening monologue delivered by the protagonist, a stage actor, encapsulate one of the central questions of the film.

Each day, we live surrounded by countless forms of fiction. From the ideas that first come to mind when we hear the word ‘fiction’ — dreams or virtual spaces — to shared ‘concepts’ and ‘narratives’ like currency or democracy, and even the uncertain memories we consider our own past, fiction is an expansive and far-reaching phenomenon that can’t be confined to a simple definition. In many ways, these threads of fiction are intricately interwoven with reality, making it difficult to draw a clear line between the two. It was from this sense of ambiguity that I felt compelled to create a work exploring the themes of reality, fiction, and memory.

Another central theme of this film is ‘creation’ itself. Ever since our ancestors began painting on cave walls, we have been creating in one form or another. What does it mean to create? Why do we feel the need to do so? Lately, I’ve come to feel that the act of creating may be an attempt to find an answer to those very questions — and that, in the end, we never truly find it. Instead, we continue creating, over and over again. Perhaps creating is also a way of mourning. It is both an act of making and of containing, and through that dual nature, it allows us to move forward.

With this work, I’ve tried to give form to one of my own answers to these questions as of 2025. I am deeply grateful to all those who have supported this project, and I sincerely hope that it will leave a lasting impression on those who experience it.

Olivier KAZUMA was born on January 27, 1995 in Osaka, Japan.
Having grown up exposed to numerous literary and cinematographic works, he decided to pursue a career in cinema but, at university, he specialized in the performing arts in order to broaden his horizons. While still a student, he wrote and directed his first play, "Papillon", then participated in more than 20 theater and cinema productions as an actor, producer, author and director. After obtaining his diploma, he worked first as an assistant director for television series, then as an editor. He is today active as a journalist and reporter specializing in international subjects. He covered, among other events, the G7 held in Hiroshima and the Paris Olympic Games. In 2023, alongside his work as a journalist, he wrote and directed TRACÉ, his first film produced after obtaining his diploma. Achieved in May 2025, "23:07" is his second film.