The first questions John Williams is always asked about "Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu (Firefly Dreams)" are the "whys": Why are you in Japan? Why did you shoot a film using only Japanese actors? The answers, Williams says, don't come easy, "because I never imagined I would end up making a film here."
Williams came to Nagoya in 1989 with the intention of staying for two or three years writing scripts and then heading back to Britain, but like many expats he found one reason after another to put off the plane trip home.
One was an application to New York University's film school. Williams was accepted but had to postpone his studies. He reapplied the following year, only to be rejected. In the meantime he was making 8mm films and videos and becoming interested in the plight of Sri Lankans in Nagoya applying for asylum in Japan as political refugees. He ended up going to Sri Lanka four times to shoot a documentary about the ongoing civil war that had forced the Sri Lankans to leave their homes.