[Dispatch=Reporter Jung Tae-yoon] Director Hirokazu Koreeda has explored the theme of "family" in various forms and perspectives. This time, he asks whether humans and humanoids can become family.

"I think it's difficult and interesting for heterogeneous beings like glass and wood, humans and humanoids, to coexist together. I wanted to show how different couples live in the same box, imagining a child who has gone."

The film "Sheep in the Box" held a press screening and press conference at Mega Box Coex in Seoul on the 4th. Director Hirokazu Koreeda and Kuwaki Rimu attended.

Director Koreeda returned to Seoul for the first time in a year. He said, "Korea is a country I have affection for because I made films here and know many people," and "I'm pleased that it's opening almost simultaneously with Japan."

This time he brought up the story of a humanoid. "Sheep in the Box" depicts both the joy of a humanoid who replaces a dead child and becomes part of a family, and the anxiety of being abandoned again.

It was invited to the 79th Cannes International Film Festival and made its world premiere. It is his eighth film in the competition section. The original screenplay he wrote himself comes eight years after "Shoplifters."

The story began two years ago when he saw an article about a service spreading that recreates deceased people using generative AI. He recalled, "I went to Shanghai for work and met a CEO running that business."

He explained, "He showed me an AI inside his phone that had revived the image of a deceased person, and I was curious how audiences would accept it."

Director Koreeda did not stop at that question. He unfolded what happens when the dead child returns in the form of a humanoid, and what the remaining people experience in a relationship mediated by technology.

Ayase Haruka and Daigo came forward as the faces to breathe reality and emotion into this special setting. Director Koreeda reunited with Ayase Haruka eleven years after "Seaside Diary."

Ayase delicately expressed the loss of a mother who has lost a child. Director Koreeda said, "Given that it was a ten-year reunion, I suggested we try a role she hasn't done before and express emotions she hasn't shown," adding "It was good to meet again with growth over those ten years and make a film."

Kuwaki Rimu played the humanoid 'Kakeru.' Born in 2016, "Sheep in the Box" is his first lead film role. He was cast after competing against over 200 applicants. He completed a subtly imperfect being that resembles a human.

Director Koreeda said of Kuwaki, "From the first time I saw him, I got the feeling of Kakeru. Still, I went through repeated auditions to convince the staff."

The decisive scene was the bath scene with Daigo, who plays the father in the film. Daigo participated in the audition directly to match their acting chemistry, and after that scene, the casting was confirmed.

Director Koreeda recalled, "In the bath scene, there's a part where the dad says 'keep it a secret,' and when I said 'what should we do?', he playfully expressed it in his own way."

"Kuwaki practiced by talking with Daigo on set. What's really impressive about Kuwaki is that he performs the first take and second take with completely different nuances, like play. It felt like he wasn't even a child actor."

Kuwaki said of Director Koreeda, "The director advised me to do it in my own way. Other directors give advice like 'do it this way,' but the director just trusted me, so it was comfortable and fun."

About the most difficult scene, he said, "I lost consciousness in the park, and it was hard to keep my eyes closed when actress Ayase Haruka called out 'Kakeru' to wake me up," drawing laughter from the room.

The most important line in the film is "the essence lies in what is invisible." Director Koreeda emphasized, "Film is made to be seen with the eyes, but I think there's much that isn't captured."

"I made this film with focus on the invisible. At the end, I wanted to convey to you the imagination of the two couples living while imagining him without Kakeru."

Finally, Kuwaki added, "It's a film full of love. I hope you'll watch it again and again and keep thinking about it."

"Sheep in the Box" opens on the 10th.

<Photos by Reporter Song Hyo-jin>