A company that creates thought-provoking media for science and the arts.
Africa First for Focus Features
This fall, we were hired by Focus Features to create a promotional video about one of their exciting programs, Africa First.
Africa First is an incubator workshop for new talent coming from the African continent. Selected filmmakers for various countries in Africa come to network and cultivate their script with African film experts of the U.S. and U.K. Supported by Focus Features, Africa First is the only workshop of the type that is funded by an American studio. And rightly so, it is Focus Features, proponent of indie film and indie spirit that backs the program.
Spending days filming the participants and advisors of Africa First, we definitely learned a lot. First, “African Cinema” is a term that is overly used but quite obscure. After all, there is a great diversity of people, cultures, religion, development stages in Africa. How can one pinpoint a type of film and categorize it as “Africa Cinema”? Second, these new filmmakers from Africa are uninhibited in their imagination. This was truly inspiring. It was a reminder of how jaded we “New York filmmakers” end up to be, despite our intention, and how important it is to remember that the strongest films we make are the ones that comes from our hearts. 
Feature documentary filming in Nairobi, Kenya
This summer, Noka had the most amazing experience filiming a feature documentary in Nairobi, Kenya. The documentary film, tentatively titled Shifting Ground, follows three women who live in the largest slum of Africa: Kibera. Being one of the most overpopulated places on earth, Kibera is riddled with poverty, disease and violence against women. It has become a toxic trap for its nearly 1 million occupants who seek a better life than what the countryside has to offer.
The film is about how women are the pillars of this community, and whether empowering women can change the fate of the slum to a more improved living. We decided to explore this theme through the stories of three women – each told by a different director. Andrey and Hazuki were both commissioned as directors.
Our life in Nairobi and our everyday shooting hours in the slum taught us the diversity of the Kenyan people. Not only did we witness a socioeconomic difference, but also a religious, ethnic, political spectrum—indeed, Kenya is a complex country rich with culture and nature. There was so much to learn from the people in this corner of the world.
This slice-of-life film goes behind the statistics and offers a raw, multifaceted and vivid female perspective of Kibera. In the end, what surprised us most were not the extremes of adversity that Kiberan women endure, but the courage, love and sacrifice they show in the face of it.
Upgrade is released for the world to see!
Our super short film “Upgrade”had a wonderfully fun festival run this summer, and now we are happy to release it online for everyone to see.
A 60-second film (90 seconds with credits) is something you don’t see very much at film festivals. But thanks to the ones that took us in, we received huge audience responses and great accolades on how it was produced and also the message it sent.
Andrey is the creative mind behind the concept of Upgrade, and it was his idea to make this poignant film. Thanks again to all who helped us create it, starting with contemporary dancer Mina Nishimura, who, without her talent and unbelievable moves, this film could not have been made. Thank you also to Hyun-Joo You, our special effects make up artist, who made four grand slabs of silicone ear that we pierced our new device through. This started from making the mold with Hazuki’s ear…a lot of work!
And a big thank you to Jiyeon Kim, our VFX artist, who placed the Apple mark very subtly on our new device and also the glowing Apple at the end. And last but not least, our friends who braved the bitter cold winter to shoot this film in New York City. 
Much time and love was poured into this 60-second film. We hope you enjoy it!
SEE THE FILM HERE
Children’s Corner by BERG
From the start of this year, we've been working with music artist BERG on his debut music video Children's Corner. Finally, it's been released! Check out the music video here.
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It was a challenging production with only one day to shoot. In the freezing winter cold of January, we asked our main actress Larissa Simpson to walk around Fort Totten park in Queens, NY,… search of her memories. We were very lucky to have up-and-coming fashion designer Samantha Pleet to offer her gorgeous cape and gown for our wandering princess.
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Thank you so much John Phillips, Alla Bronskaya, and Brian Rice for helping with this production. BERG's music and lyrics of Children's Corner can be found on his website.
A musician for PBS
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This week we were happy to meet and work with singer/songwriter Ben Rabb, who will be featured on PBS as an up and coming new musician from NYC. Ben is an extremely laid back singer with an easy listening style that has been compared to James Taylor and Amos Lee.
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Whether it’s true, partially true, or completely false, Ben likes to tell stories. Fusing organic soul with folk melodies, Ben's fluid and distinguished passion absorbs audiences from coast to coast. Check out his website here.
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We hope that our video of Ben Rabb reflects his talent, style, and wonderfully soothing music and voice. Please check out the video on Noka Productions' arts page here.
Covering the EF5 Tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma
On May 20, a massive tornado of EF5 hit several parts of Oklahoma. Hazuki was sent there by NHK to cover the tornado disaster. The segment was aired 3 days later on Today's Close Up. It is without saying that the sight of Moore, Oklahoma, was devastating. Pictures speak a thousand words.
In the little spare time we had, we shot a few scenes of the aftermath and created a video for Shelter Oklahoma Schools. Despite the fact that Oklahoma is tornado alley, not all schools in the state have safety shelters. Sadly, 10 children died from this tornado. We found this a wake up call, and hope that people will donate and help equip schools with proper shelter.