NOBORU is a story about a young gay Japanese man, Noboru, who leads an alienated, restless existence roaming the endless dark corridors of downtown Los Angeles in search of a new beginning - an escape from his tormented past in Japan. However, after many futile attempts to distract himself from the emptiness of his limbo-like reality, he discovers that by trying to run away from his demons he will only force himself to inevitably collide with them in a life-threatening way. 

After being exposed as a homosexual to his traditional Japanese family, a truth he had obscured from them his whole life, Noboru's world changes forever and his grip on reality spirals out of control as he unhealthily attempts to numb the wounds from his devastating coming out experience. His first step is to leave everything and everyone from Japan behind and go somewhere distant where no one will recognize him or know about his shame. Now, after deserting his homeland for the City of Angels, the faces of Tadao, his former lover, and his father can only haunt him in his mind and heart. 

The Chinese-origin symbol for Noboru's name (登) means to ascend or to climb, and that is exactly what he must do in order to confront the rage and traumas permeating the memories of a life Japan in he tries so hard to forget. Through shocking flashbacks and disorienting editing mirroring his unstable state of mind, we gradually learn why Noboru is heading down this miserable, self-destructive path which can only be reversed if he overcomes the ultimate obstacle: to come face-to-face with his identity as a gay Japanese man existing in modern society. 

His emotional turmoil is aggravated by his inability to connect to another human being beyond a physical level after being irreversibly hurt by those he loves most. This flaw renders him unable to express his feelings and causes him to make a series of desperate choices that take him down a wild road to violent rebirth.

NOBORU, being set in Los Angeles in the present but also in Japan during Noboru's flashbacks, is a film that questions how homosexuality is regarded in Japanese culture and explores how it contradicts Japanese cultural traditions of family, masculinity, and honor. Japanese society, being very rigid in its social customs and its glorification of national uniformity, intrinsically resists the unconventional lifestyle that homosexuality represents and finds its integration into contemporary life conflicting. 

Noboru misguidedly comes to Los Angeles in search of a safe haven where he can be free to express his sexuality and identity, only to discover that this outer freedom cannot come about without him liberating himself from his inner demons first. Noboru learns the hard way that avoiding one's past, no matter how traumatic it might be, only leads to more suffering and self-inflicted pain. 

The taboo subject of homosexuality in Japan will be analyzed through the eyes of a confused young man who yearns for acceptance and approval by his society and thus, himself, only to find cold rejection as he internally wonders why people like him are outcasted. However, as painful and chaotic as Noboru's existential journey might be, in the end we want to show our viewers and supporters that there is hope for lonely, rejected, and lost individuals like Noboru to live happy, fulfilling lives.

Our message is that no matter how inconvenient the truth that homosexuals exist might be for certain cultures, families, or religious institutions, it is not humane to ostracize them from society and label them as "damaged" because they are different. In our hearts, we feel that it is not acceptable for gays and lesbians to be rejected simply because they have an attraction to the same sex that makes them a minority in society. We want to give a voice to individuals like Noboru who feel like their identity and being are suffocated by the rigorous values of their cultures.

In the end, it is up to each individual viewer to form his or her own consensus regarding the significance of LGBT issues, but our desire is to communicate, through one man's unique perspective, how psychologically crippling it can be to be to be shunned from society for being gay, regardless of what the causes or societal implications of homosexuality might be.

CHECK OUT OUR OFFICIAL WEBSITE AT NOBORUMOVIE.COM !

Núñez is a gay filmmaker who seeks to bring the issues of contemporary gay/lesbian men and women to the forefront of mainstream cinema alongside the everyday lives and concerns of heterosexuals. He seeks to explore the struggles of gay/lesbian people not only within American society, but within different cultures and countries and thus use the cinematic medium to expose similarities and contrasts in perceptions of homosexuality across the globe. 

Ultimately, his aim is to, along with the efforts of other passionate filmmakers, help bring the often ignored subject of homosexuality out of the back of society's mind so that gays and lesbians can feel comfortable living their lives openly and proudly, no matter where they reside geographically.

Kiyoshi W. Shishido is playing the role of NOBORU. Shishido is a Nikkei yonsei (4th generation Japanese American) currently pursuing the commercial industry in entertainment. He is also pursuing his singing/vocal training by participating in some karaoke contests (July 13, 2014, Bridge USA Natsumatsuri).

Liana Bassior is playing the role of "Vanessa", Noboru's only friend in Los Angeles. She has been in numerous commercials for Firestone, Doritos, and has had the opportunity to act in a variety of comedic and dramatic films.

Yoshimasa Miyazaki is the Director of Photography of NOBORU. Yoshimasa is a freelance camera man and photographer and is currently working as the Camera Operator for his CSU Northridge senior thesis film "Corre", which will be filmed with cameras granted through the ARRI Alexa Project. He was also a behind-the-scenes photographer for the LA Eiga Fest 2014 (a Japanese film festival) in Hollywood.

RISKS AND CHALLENGES

Human beings are, by design, not too fond of change. Unexpected surprises and constantly arising challenges are by nature some of the fundamental aspects of the filmmaking process. Equipment might malfunction, the cast or crew might get a flat tire on the way to the set, the ambient noise of a location might force us to have to rerecord the dialogue later on during post; the list of potential problems could go on and on. Our film, being only 12 minutes in length, has to communicate a lot of information in a compressed amount of time, so first and foremost, we must ensure that we can obtain enough coverage to able to tell our story while making the most of our finite resources.

My crew and I, rather than resisting these inevitable events and perceiving them as nuisances, will instead welcome these challenges with enthusiasm and and use them as learning tools to enrich our long and exciting journeys as independent filmmakers.

Keeping our hearts and minds focused on our long-term objective will give us the resilience to endure the trials of making an independent film that susceptible to fluctuating variables such as time, money, and availability of resources and personnel.

Most importantly, we are committed, against all odds, to seeing this creative challenge through to the very end so that we can deliver hope to all of those who have felt marginalized from society because of their sexual orientation!

Since we have already raised some funds on Kickstarter, even if we do not meet our Indiegogo funding goal we will still be able to make the project come true with a combination of funds!