As they complete the jigsaw puzzle of the world map, Lan Xia and Hai Feng aren’t just playing but discovering the world’s vastness and mystery. It might look like an ordinary puzzle, but there’s something quite majestic about it. The theme of the film is "curiosity", but what I felt while I was performing was that it’s important to get your feelings across clearly. I’ve also had times when I felt a distance growing between myself and my family because I couldn’t express what I was feeling well enough. That’s why I’d like the people who are watching to take the film as an opportunity to be honest with others. I enjoyed making a film with the Japanese crew members, and I’d like to learn Japanese so we can communicate better.

Wang Peixi is an actor born in Tianjin, China, in 2014. Currently attending Nankai University Affiliated School in Tianjin.
Wang appeared in Chen Kaigen’s The Battle at Lake Changjin and The Volunteers: To the War. Also, several short and feature-length films in which he appeared have been nominated for the Beijing International Film Festival.
He’s starred in films including Dandelion’s Promise (lit.), Born to Bloom (lit.) and The Storm of Investment Banking (lit.). In TV dramas, he’s appeared in Bones of a Wild Dog (lit.), Genuine Heroes, A Prophet, Lost You Forever and Destined.
He has also appeared on Hunan TV’s major reality show, Great Escape.

I play a little girl who isn’t getting along with her mother but becomes interested in her classmate Hai Feng and what he likes to do for fun. She’s really energetic in those scenes. When Lan Xia goes to Hai Feng’s house, she looks around his home like she’s really happy. The curiosity their relationship sparks is the curiosity that you feel in everyday life. A lot is left unexplained, so I was confused when I first read the script, but I played my role by untangling each event one by one. I hope a lot of people will be able to enjoy the film we made together.

Ma Yirui is a young actress from mainland China. She began acting at the age of four, and has over 10 years of experience. Ma starred in the film, Mile’s Perfect Summer (lit.) when she was six, followed by The Battle at Lake Changjin, The Unique Love, The Escaping Man, Breathing (lit.) and The Sorcerer’s Revolt (lit.).
Her outstanding performance in TV dramas such as The Ingenious One, Lost You Forever, Police Box (lit.), Love in Shanghai, The Legend of An Le and White-Haired Woman (lit.) has been highly praised by directors.

I’ve always been a fan of Shunji Iwai, so I approached the shoot with a sense of curiosity about how it would feel to be a character in a film by a director whose work I’ve seen so often on the big screen. He’s able to draw out the inner feelings of his characters naturally because he favors improvisation and values the unexpected, along with ideas that are born on set. I’d like the people who see the film to interpret it from their own perspective. I’d also like them to interpret the theme of curiosity in their own way. I’m really looking forward to seeing how people react to it.

Li Meng
Actress from mainland China. She graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 2013, and in the same year appeared in Jia Zhangke’s A Touch of Sin. She became the first Chinese actress born in the 1990s to be selected for the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Films in which she’s starred have been nominated at the three major international film festivals four times. Her work includes feature films such as Young Love Lost, Dead Pigs, Absence, Tainted Love, and Yin Yang Mansion, as well as TV dramas The Bad Kids and The Double. Her excellent performances have received high praise from within the industry and beyond.

At first glance, Brian seems to be a successful author, but in reality, he only writes the kind of books that sell rather than those that are artistically good. Now he’s totally blocked and can’t write at all. He may appear self-confident, but inside he’s filled with anxiety. He’s already lost so much while busy chasing success. For example, he’s always been interested in food and cooking, but has he ever tried to make use of that in his work? In other words, he’s lost his sense of curiosity. He has to become reacquainted with himself. The film is a journey he undertakes to rediscover his curiosity.

Rex Strype is an LA-based actor and an award-winning screenwriter, director & producer, with work screened & honored internationally. He is Faculty Emeritus at Sarah Lawrence College, where he directed their Filmmaking & Moving Image Arts Program from 2007 to 2020. Rex is honored to have been included in Derek Tsang’s incredible creative vision and among his wonderful team on AS WRITTEN.

The way Kenji is and his relationships with others are frustrated by a language barrier. In comparison to his wife, who is a native speaker overseas, he can’t communicate and has an inability to show more than one side of himself. But now they’ve come to Japan, the situation is reversed, and new sides of himself become visible. As the discomfort that had been lying dormant inside him interacts with his desire to understand others in complex ways, how does he feel and how will he change? I think that process is what makes the film so interesting. Kenji’s budding "curiosity" is less about probing into someone else than taking an interest in the unseen sides of himself.

Kazuki Kitamura was born in Osaka in 1969. He has won many awards, including being named as Best Newcomer by Kinema Junpo for his performance in 1999’s Minazuki and Ley Lines. Since then, he’s starred in many high-profile films and television dramas, including the Galileo TV series and its theatrical spin-off feature, Silent Parade (2022), as well as the movie, Let's Go Karaoke! (2024), and the streaming series, Tokyo Swindlers (2024). He also gave a commanding performance in his first leading role in a musical in The King and I. Kazuki Kitamura is currently scheduled to play the role of a father in the NHK morning drama Kaze, Kaoru in early 2026.

Mako had poured all her passion into flamenco, but after thinking about how she could continue with it decided to end her career as a dancer. She’s tired of expressing herself and has all but closed off her heart. She remains deeply curious about dancing, but has lost hope in what lies at the end of the dance. Meeting Kenji and Sushila brings about a change in the pain and loneliness she’s been feeling and gives rise to a new curiosity. It’s quite rare for someone of my age to be featured in a film about curiosity in Japan, so I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to perform in it.

Mieko Harada was born in Tokyo. She made her debut as an actress in 1974 with Love Is in the Green Wind, and went on to win numerous awards, including being named Best Actress by Kinema Junpo for her performance in 1976’s Lullaby of the Earth and The Youth Killer. She won the Best Actress award at the Japan Academy Film Prize for her role in 1998’s Begging for Love and has appeared in a wide range of roles on stage and television, along with films such as Akira Kurosawa’s Ran. In 2020, she made a short documentary about her mother who had been diagnosed with dementia, Actress Hisako Harada, which she shot and edited herself. In recent years, she has appeared in films such as A Hundred Flowers (directed by Genki Kawamura).

Sushila is very introverted and keeps her feelings bottled up inside. From the outside, she might seem cool and composed, like she has everything under control, but jealousy and anxiety are whirling around inside her and she tries to conceal her feelings with a facade of self-confidence. She's not the only person who tries to hide her fear and anxiety by telling the outside world that everything’s fine. Her lack of communication creates awkwardness between herself and Kenji, but she wants to get to know him and is filled with curiosity. I hope that this film will encourage people to be more honest with themselves, and to be more emotionally honest with others.

Born in Karachi in 1970, Muntaz began her career in theater before making her television debut in 1995 with the PTV drama, Zard Dopehar. She established her presence in a number of acclaimed productions such as Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Benishan, Sadqay Tumhare, Udaari, and Maaye Ni. For her role in Sadqay Tumhare, she received the Hum Award for Best Supporting Actress.
She starred in the feature film Dukhtar (2014), which was also released in Japan, and was nominated for Best Film Actress at the Lux Style Awards the following year. More recently, she has appeared in high-profile works including the 2023 TV series Jindo.