Photo/Illutration A scene from “A Week in My Life” directed by Mipo O ((c) WOWOW)

Award-winning director Mipo O has just released her first work in eight years, highlighting the difficulties of pursuing a career in the film industry while raising children.

“A Week in My Life” is her first project since she released “Being Good."

It was produced as part of the “Tell It Like a Woman” anthology, a U.S.-Italian project of seven short films directed by female filmmakers and featuring actresses.

Starring Anne Watanabe, 37, the story shares many similarities with the director’s private life.

It centers around Yuki (Watanabe), a single mother who works all hours to raise her two small children.

She wakes up early each morning to prepare breakfast for her kids, do the laundry and clean up.

She drops off one child at an elementary school and the other at a nursery school before going to work.

Yuki picks them from school in the evening and then takes them to lessons.

At night, she prepares supper and puts them to bed before turning in after midnight.

The short film follows the bustle of her everyday life with detailed cuts and without relying on dialogue.

O, 46, is raising two children aged 8 and 3.

The director portrays Yuki’s day-to-day life based on her own experiences. She also tapped into her close circle of friends for inspiration and talked with Watanabe.

“I wanted to show what she is actually tasked to do and what is so hard about it,” O said.

The director’s eight-year hiatus was unintentional. She simply did not have the energy to make movies with her busy schedule and had to decline all offers that came her way.

When involved in a film project, O says she works all-out from morning to night for about two months before the cameras start to roll.

Her husband is also busy with his job and often returns home at irregular hours.

“Would it be possible to raise my children while I continue my career as a film director in such a situation?” O recalled. “For the past eight years, I keenly felt that it was impossible. That is because it is structurally impossible to finish the day’s shooting by the time I must go and pick up my children.”

“Tell It Like A Woman” was planned by We Do It Together, a nonprofit film production company that espouses “true progress can be achieved through the united efforts of men and women working together.” Its focus is to “empower women and transform the narrative surrounding their representation.”

Supported by Jodie Foster, Penelope Cruz and other actors and filmmakers, each story of the project delves into issues such as abuse, poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic and gender diversity.

O said she decided to take on the project because she felt her frustration of being unable to pursue her career as a film director while raising children is reflected in the fact that Japan ranks the lowest among major developed countries regarding a global gender-gap index.

It took about four days to film the project. O made it a strict rule to shoot scenes from around 8 a.m. to no later than 6 p.m.

“Working proper hours can make everyone work in a healthy way, and it also leads to the richness of their hearts,” O said. “I hope such things will be understood around the world.”

“Tell It Like A Woman” is showing nationwide.

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