A Painting Provided Inspiration For Award Winning Film

Foretoken (2008) by Manabu Ikeda

 Foretoken by Japanese painter Manabu Ikeda was a nod to Hokusai’s iconic woodblock painting The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Ikeda's painting was never shown in Japan because, after a tsunami flattened parts of Japan’s Tohoku region, the imagery in the painting was deemed traumatic and triggering.

However it provided inspiration to Daniel Kwan when he was writing the script for the Oscar winning Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Manabu’s painting] became a guiding light two years into the writing process when I was feeling overwhelmed by the script, feeling worthless and stupid for trying to tackle something so big. - Daniel Kwan

Read more: Spoon & Tamago