Kerwin Berk, director of “The Virtues of Corned Beef Hash,” is working on his most recent film, “Infinity and Chashu Ramen.”

The film, set in San Francisco’s modern day Japantown, follows Tenshi (Hiroshi Kashiwagi), an obnoxious 400-year-old spirit with a foul mouth and propensity for petty theft, and Lucy Yamaguchi (Wendy Hyunh), a sweet but naïve woman from the 1940s dropped into the modern day without warning to help Tenshi. The duo is charged with keeping the universal balance within Japantown stable.

Berk started working on the film in November 2010, and concluded filming in August.

Berk plans to premiere it in Japantown next spring or early summer, though funding is an issue.

“Our film editor is working for free but we do have to pay for studio time. And, for the soundtrack we are using a variety of traditional Japanese as well as jazz musicians, many of whom are working for free or at a reduced rate,” said Berk in an e-mail interview with the Nichi Bei Weekly. “Even with all the donated services the costs mount pretty quickly.”

Berk said the film’s biggest expense is the post-production editing, which he hopes to raise through Kickstarter or direct donations. The Kickstarter campaign aims to raise $8,000 by Thursday, Dec. 15. At press time, the campaign has raised $1,185.

If the Kickstarter goal is not met, Berk said he would have to either delay the film’s release until viable funding comes through, or finish it on time with lower production quality. “Neither option is particularly enviable,” he said.

To contribute to the project, or to watch the trailer visit www.
kickstarter.com/projects/924946199/infinity-and-chashu-ramen.

Tomo Hirai of the Nichi Bei Weekly contributed to this report.