Another eerie coincidence was the film\u2019s shooting location. While the film was in development, production considered several different possibilities. But it landed in Kelowna, Canada, where Kiyoko\u2019s grandparents once lived.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got this call: \u2018Hey, we\u2019re shooting this movie in Kelowna, Canada, have you heard of it?\u2019 And my eyes welled up with tears,\u201d she says. \u201cMy grandparents are buried there, and I grew up visiting them on my Japanese side, and actually have a baby picture of me taking my first steps in their living room, four streets down from where we ended up shooting the film.\u201d<\/p>\n Girls Like Girls<\/em> is in theaters June 19.<\/span>Courtesy of Focus Features<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n She even \u201cmanifested\u201d Zach Braff<\/a> to play Coley\u2019s dad, she says. The Garden State<\/em><\/a> soundtrack helped inspire the film; Braff, who wrote, directed, and starred in that millennial touchstone, ended up loving the script. \u201cIt was so full-circle, because he had been on my mood board for years,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd he\u2019s a fellow Aries.\u201d<\/p>\n Kiyoko calls herself an \u201cemotional hoarder.\u201d Many of her own sentimental items and memories wound up in the film, including the very jacket that Kiyoko\u2019s actual teenage crush gave to her.<\/p>\n \u201cI told my story through the lens of Coley. I fell in love with this girl in high school, and we would say \u2018olive juice\u2019 to each other, and I was so confused at what was going on,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was such an out-of-body experience to be directing scenes that were actually quite traumatizing for me, and to find ways to heal those parts of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
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