My Life and Production Design

Screening Schedule

Nov. 23 (Mon.) 10:30 at hall No.2

See Time Table

Details

After graduating from high school in Hiroshima, I moved to Tokyo to attend university. I worked part time as an art assistant with Tsuburaya Productions, gaining firsthand experience of production design. The exciting world of filmmaking, where my designs could be transformed into sets appreciated by millions of viewers was so appealing. I couldn’t help thinking, “This is my destiny!”After graduating from university, I focused entirely on film production, working my way up from being an art assistant in Akira Kurosawa production team to an art director in my own right on Masayuki Suo’s feature film, “Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t” (1992), and then on to where I am today. In this workshop, I will, as my title alludes, talk for 90 minutes about my life in Hiroshima and then Tokyo and about my experiences of film production design.

Director

Kyoko Heya
Born in Hiroshima, Heya attended the College of Art and Design at Musashino Art University in Tokyo. As a student, she worked part time as an art assistant for Tsuburaya Productions. After graduating, Heya started her career in production design on the Japanese-US collaborative production, “Shōgun.” Following that, she worked on numerous films including directed by Paul Schrader, Seijun Suzuki, Yoshishige Yoshida, Kinji Fukusaku and Akira Kurosawa. In 1992, Heya made her debut as an art director on Masayuki Suo’s feature film, “Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t.” She then went on to work on films directed by Suo, Yōjirō Takita, Naomi Kawase, Shunji Iwai and more. This year alone, she has worked on Kei Chikaura’s “Complicity,” which was released in January, Toshihiro Goto’s “Hiroshima Piano,” released in July, and Michihito Fujii’s “The Brightest Roof in the Universe,” released in September. She has also worked on a project by Michihito Fujii (Unseen Film Footage) set for release in January 2021 and Masakazu Kaneko’s “Ring Wandering,” scheduled for spring 2021.
【Prizes and Awards】 - Japan Academy Film Prize, Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, 12 Times, Two of which were for Best Art Direction “Shall We Dance?” (1996) and “I Just Didn’t Do it” (2007) - Mainichi Film Awards for Best Art Direction on “Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer” (2012) - Medal of Honor from the Government of Japan: Medal with Purple Ribbon (Autumn 2016) - 77th Chūgoku Bunka Shō [Chūgoku Cultural Award] (2020)