Guests
ゲスト

• 

  KUROSAKI Hiroshi

  Director KUROSAKI Hiroshi began his career with NHK Japan in 1992 and has helmed many series, including the award-winning mini-drama “Goldfish” (2009), “Chase: National Tax Inspector” (2010), “Made in Japan” (2013), the popular morning show “Hiyokko” (2017), “Unsolved Cases: Devil's Bargain” (2018), and the currently popular “Reach Beyond the Blue Sky” (2021). He released his feature debut, “Second Virginity,” in 2011 to national acclaim. His script for “Gift of Fire” received the Special Mention Award at the Sundance Institute/NHK Award 2015, and a TV version of the film was broadcast on NHK in 2020.

• 

  KAWASE Mika

  In 2006, KAWASE Mika established an independent production company. In 2011, she released “MURASAKI” [Purple], a documentary film about YOSHIOKA Sachio, a fifth generation textile dyer at Textiles Yoshioka in Kyoto which has been operating since the 1800’s. In 2015, she released another documentary film, “Day after Day,” which centers on the life of MATSUDA Yoneshi, a master potter from a communal kiln in the Okinawan village of Yomitan called Kitakama. From 2020 onward, KAWASE has focused on creating a series of short films, some of which are available pay for view on the Tekagami website https://umum.me/

• 

  OKI Masato

  OKI Masato was born in Etajima City, Hiroshima Prefecture. He has co-directed films with a partner under the name of Co-Enji Brothers. His directorial debut short film, “Bourbon Talk,” received awards at many film festivals around the world. It was screened as an omnibus film at Euro Space, a movie theater in Shibuya, Tokyo. His second film, “Okuchi-No-Koihito,” won the Audience Award from among 24 films at the 24th Hakodate Harbor Illumination Film Festival. In 2020, he directed a short film, “A Scene of Actors,” which became a hot topic. It was featured in an NHK morning news program and Shukan Shincho magazine, enabling him to turn it into a feature-length film.

• 

  SUZUKI Taichi

  After graduating from Waseda University, SUZUKIi Taichi studied filmmaking as part of a video collaboration course at ENBU Seminar School. Building on this, he studied under film director SHINOHARA Tetsuo. He made his directorial debut with “The Brat!” (2012), winning four awards at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. Since then, he has directed numerous TV and Web dramas. He also wrote the screenplays for them. His works include “All Esper Dayo!” (2013), “Panic In” (2015), “Tofu Pro-Wrestling” (screenplay, 2017), “A Ticket Taker Session 2” (short film, 2019), and more.

• 

  NAKAMURA Kimihiko

  NAKAMURA Kimihiko appeared in many films and V-cinema as an actor. His screenplay “A Flower Blooming at My Fingertip” won the second prize at the 14th Scenario Competition of the Hakodate Harbor Illumination Film Festival. Since then, he has focused his efforts on directing and screenwriting. His works include “Smoking Aliens,” “Koi no Prototype,” “Eiken Boogie: Namida no Return Match” (director, screenwriter), “The 101st Bed In” (director, the Jury's Special Award at Moosic Lab 2015), “In 2085, Love Disappears” (screenplay, the Special Award at the 8th Love Story Film Festival), “I'll Do It 1 and 2” (screenplay), “Blues of Gents” (an omnibus film, director, producer), “AKB Short Shorts Project 9 Windows” (directed 2 of 9 short films).

• 

  HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke

  　HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1978. He graduated from the Graduate School of Film and New Media at the Tokyo University of the Arts. In 2008, his graduation film “Passion” was screened and highly regarded at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the TOKYO FILMeX.
  　From 2011 to 2013, HAMAGUCHI co-directed three films about Tohoku region with SAKAI Ko. “The Sound of the Waves” and “Voices from the Waves” consist of interviews with victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. “Storytellers” is a record of folk tales in the Tohoku region. In 2012, he directed “Intimacies,” a feature film over four hours long. In 2015, “Happy Hour,” a 5-hour 17-minute feature film starring four women with no acting experience, won major awards at international film festivals including Locarno, Nantes, and Singapore.
  　Recently HAMAGUCHI has made a name for himself on the international stage. His commercial film debut, “Asako I & II” (2018) was selected for the Competition section at the Cannes International Film Festival. A short story collection “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” (2021) received the Silver Bear (Grand Jury Prize) at the Berlin International Film Festival. He also wrote the screenplay for KUROSAWA Kiyoshi's film “Wife of a Spy” (2020), which won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.
  　“Drive My Car” (2021), HAMAGUCHI's second commercial feature film, became the first Japanese film to win the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes International Film Festival. It received a total of four awards at the festival.

• 

  SHIRAISHI Kazuya

  SHIRAISHI Kazuya was born in Hokkaido in 1974. He studied under Director WAKAMATSU Kōji and worked on films by directors including YUKISADA Isao and INUDO Isshin. In 2010, he made his debut as a film director with the feature-length film “Lost in Paradise in Tokyo.” In 2013, he released “The Devil's Path” to great accolades, receiving director and screenwriter awards at the Shindo Kaneto Awards and the 37th Japan Academy Awards. His film “Twisted Justice” (2016) screened at the opening of the 15th New York Asian Film Festival. In 2018, he released three films “Sunny / 32,” “The Blood of Wolves,” and “Dare to Stop Us,” winning Best Director awards at both the Blue Ribbon Awards and Nikkan Sports Film Awards. In 2019, he released “A Gambler's Odyssey 2020,” “Sea of Revival,” and “One Night,” earning a place in the best ten Japanese filmmakers at the Kinema Junpo Awards, a Prize from Japan’ Ministry of Education, and more.

• 

  ISHII Yuya

  　ISHII Yuya, born in Saitama Prefecture in 1983, attended Osaka University of Arts. His graduation film, “Bare-assed Japan” (2005), was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2007 Pia Film Festival. At 24 in 2008, Ishii was the first recipient of the Edward Yang New Talent Award at the 2nd Asian Film Awards. Four of his independent films gained attention at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Hong Kong International Film Festival. His first commercial feature film, “Sawako Decides” (2010), led to a formal invite to the Berlin International Film Festival. He was the youngest director ever to win Best Film Award and Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival. His film, “The Great Passage” (2013), won Picture of the Year at the 37th Japan Academy Film Prize, and he was awarded Director of the Year. He was the youngest ever director to represent Japan at the Academy Award—the Oscars—in the US in the Foreign Language Film category. In 2014, Ishii’s candid portrayal of family bonds in “Our Family” gained accolade both in Japan and abroad. In the same year, he directed “The Vancouver Asahi,” presenting a well-balanced portrayal of the difficulties and hardships encountered by Japanese immigrants in Canada in the 1930s. The film, which was a hit in Japan, won an Audience Award at the 33th Vancouver International Film Festival.
  　In 2017, ISHII released the feature film “The Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue” inspired by TAHI Saihate’s collection of poems. First shown in the Forum category at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2017, it went on to win the Best Picture Award at the Tama Cinema Forum and was placed first on the 91st Kinema Junpo Best Ten Films List. It was also selected for numerous directing and best picture awards at events such as the 39th Yokohama Film Forum, 32nd Takasaki Film Forum, 30th Nikkan Sports Film Award, and 12th Asian Film Awards Academy. Ishii’s accomplishments, both in Japan and abroad, have undoubtedly brought his work as a director into the spotlight.
  　ISHII’s latest films, “All the Things We Never Said” (2020), “Akaneiro ni Yakareru” [Burning Crimson] (2021), and “The Asian Angel,” highlight the limitations of extant lexis (mother, father and family) when describing the depth of bonds between people in modern society. All three films symbolize a return to his roots in search of a new frontier.

• 

  FUJII Michihito

  FUJII Michihito, born on August 14, 1986, started his career in film at Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo where he studied for a degree in cinematography. In 2013, he directed his first feature film, “Oh! Father!” which was based on a novel by ISAKA Kotaro. He won the best screenplay prize at the 9th Asia International Film Festival with “Phantom Limb” (2014). Since then, he has directed numerous films, including “7s” (2015), “Innocent Blood” (2017), “Evil” (2018), “We Are” (2018), “Day and Night”(2018), and “The Journalist”(2019).

• 

  AYANO Go

  AYANO Go was born in Gifu Prefecture in 1982. He made his debut as an actor in 2003. In 2011, he gained accolades for his performance of the hero’s lover in an NHK sitcom series based on the novel “Carnation.” From this point on, he appeared and starred in numerous films and sitcoms. He was selected for the Best Actor Award at the 88th Kinema Junpo for his performance in “The Light Shines only There” (2014), the Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role at the 40th Japan Academy Awards for his performance in “Twisted Justice” (2016), and the Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role at the 43rd Japan Academy Awards for his performance in “Closed Ward” (2019). He also starred in “Flower of Shanidar” (2013), the “Shinjuku Swan” series (2015/2017), “Piece of Cake” (2015), “Rage” (2016), the two-part sequel “Six Four” (2016), “Punk Samurai Slash Down” (2018), “The Promised Land” (2019), "Beneath the Shadow" (2020), “The Family” (2021), and “Homunculus” (2021).

• 

  Marcelo TOBAR

  Marcelo TOBAR is a Mexican writer, director, producer and actor. His first feature film, "2000 Meters (Above Sea Level)," premiered at the Morelia IFF in February 2008. His second feature, "Polar Bear," also premiered at the Morelia IFF in 2017 where it won the main prize in the Mexican Feature Competition.

• 

  MIKI Takahiro

  MIKI Takahiro, born August 29, 1974, is from Tokushima Prefecture in Shikoku. He made is directorial debut in 2010 with the feature film “Solanin.” Then, in 2012, he released “We Were There," the first Japanese feature film to be consecutively released in two parts—"First Love” and “True Love.” Building on this, he directed: “Girl in the Sunny Place” (2013); “Hot Road” (2014); “Blue Spring Ride” (2014); “Have a Song on Your Lips” (2015); “Yell for the Blue Sky” (2016); “My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday” (2016); “My Teacher” (2017); “Kids on the Slope” (2018); “Fortuna’s Eye” (2019); “Love Me or Love Me Not” (2020); “Your Eyes Tell” (2020); and “The Door into Summer.” In 2022, MIKI plans to release his latest feature film, “TANG.”

• 

  UEDA Shinichiro

  UEDA Shinichiro, born in 1984, started to make films since his junior high school. He formed his film company PANPOKOPINA in 2009, and since then till now, he won numerous festival awards including 20 Grand Prix all over the world. Also, he is well- known for his feature debut with "One Cut of the Dead," which started screening only in two theaters and ended up as an extraordinary bit hit shown in 350 theatres in Japan. In May 2020, he remotely shot a 26-minutes film, to cheer people up in the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 

  MISHIMA Yukiko

  MISHIMA Yukiko started filmmaking at the age of 18. After her graduation, she joined Japan Broadcasting Corporation and produced and directed many documentary films until she left the company to make her film. In 2017, "Dear Etranger" won the Jury Prize at 41st Montreal World Film Festival.
  Her representative works are "Bread of Happiness(2012)", "A Strech of Life(2015)", "Night's Tightrope(2016)", and "Shape of Red(2020)".
  She expresses a discord in daily life and portrays salvation through her works, whether it's a feature film or documentary film.
  She is known for well-composed pictures, propping up with sophisticated directions, from her early works with soft impressions until recent works with hard style.

• 

  LEE Yong-ju

  LEE Yong-ju was born in 1970. After studying architecture at Yonsei University, he worked in the field for ten years before transitioning to filmography. His first exposure to directing was as an assistant to the director BONG Joon-ho on “Memories of Murder” (2003). Six years later, he made his debut as a screenwriter and director with the horror film “Possessed” (2009). Building on this, in 2012, he released the hit film “Architecture 101” (2012) to critical plaudits. Based on a scenario LEE had been nurturing for years, it tells a story of a romance involving characters drawn to their first love. “Seobok” marks LEE’s third project as a director and screenwriter.

• 

  Angeliki ANTONIOU

  Angeliki ANTONIOU was born in Athens. She studied for a degree in Architecture in Greece and film direction at the DFFB (German Film and Television Academy in Berlin). She works as a screenwriter, director and producer. She lives between Berlin and Athens. She taught film direction at the Film School of University in Thessaloniki. She serves as a jury in international film festivals. Her films have been awarded in international festivals and distributed worldwide. Her acclaimed film EDUART, screened at over 50 festivals around the world, was selected by the EFA for the 2007 European Film Awards, and it was Greece's submission for Best Foreign Film 2008.

• 

  TSAO Shih-han

  TSAO Shih-han holds a master’s degree in Filmmaking from the Taipei National University of the Arts and was a mentee of the 2016 Taipei Golden Horse Film Academy. His TV film "He is Dog, In My House" (2012) was nominated for Best Scriptwriting at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards. His short film "A Dream of Spring" (2017) and his latest short film "Neko and Flies" (2020) were selected for the International Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival in France.

• 

  GUO Shang-Sing

  An alumnus of Berlinale Talents and NYU Graduate Film Program, GUO writes, directs and acts for both film and theater. Notable works include “Kong Peh Tshat” or “How I Learned to Tell a Lie” (2012) that competed in festivals including Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, and “Only Meal of the Day” (2010) that traveled to festivals worldwide.

• 

  Anastasiia FALILEIEVA

  Anastasiia FALILEIEVA is a director, stop-motion animator, VJ artist. She learned stop-motion animation from Oleh PEDAN, a famous Ukrainian puppet master, while attending his course at Kyiv University of Cinema and Broadcasting (2016-2020). Since 2018, she has been collaborating with the band Pianoboy as a VJ artist and animator. In 2019, she released her debut short animated film "Until It Turns Black". The film succeeded at film festivals all around the world (REX, Monstra, Odessa IFF, Linoleum, Animax Skopje, and others). It has won four Awards and two Special Jury Mentions. "Until It Turns Black" was nominated for the “Kinokolo: the Ukrainian Film Critics' Award" as the Best Animated Short of 2019. In 2020, the project of the Anastasiia's short animated film in collaboration with the studio KAPI "Tiger is Strolling Around" won the pitching of the Ukrainian State Film Agency hence received financial support from the institution. So far in 2021, the film "Tiger is Strolling Around" has been selected for the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, LA Shorts International Film Festival, Montevideo World Film Festival, Odessa International Film Festival, LINOLEUM Animation Festival, and Golden Short Film Festival.

• 

  Natalya BEROVA

  Born in Russia.
  This work will be the director's debut.

• 

  Junsuke Kinoshita

  Born October 12, 1965.
  Appeared in numerous TV dramas and movies in Japan, and shot the first directorial work "Masukake Line" in 2007.
  From 2010, moved to Moscow and studied editing techniques as a director at the editorial course of the All-Russian Film University.
  Appeared as an actor in works not only in Russia but also in the former Soviet Union and Europe.
  He has been invited to many international film festivals as a judge and guest.
  Filmography
  http://junsukekinoshita.com/filmography/

• 

  MORII Yusuke

  MORII Yusuke was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1985. He studied for a degree in Directing, Acting, and Documentary at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image. After graduating, he took his first steps in the film industry under the watchful eye of former film school lecturer, Director NAGASAKI Shunichi on the film “The Witch of the West is Dead” (2008). In the years that followed, he worked under various leading directors, including OMORI Tatsushi. MORII’s upcoming film, “Kochira Amiko” [This is Amiko], marks his debut as a film director.

• 

  MIYAGAWA Hiroyuki

  MIYAGAWA Hiroyuki is a filmmaker from Hiroshima. Before embarking on a career as a filmmaker in 2004, he directed numerous commercials, winning accolades at ACC Tokyo Creativity Awards, The One Show, and more.
  2015: “Fan-tasy” (Short Film)
  2018: “Terrolun and Lunlun” (Featurette Film)
  2022: (Tentative Title) “Tobanai Fusen” [lit: Flightless Balloon] (Feature-length Film)

• 

  KATABUCHI Sunao

  Born in 1960, KATABUCHI Sunao is a renowned director of numerous animated films and an emeritus professor at Nihon University College of Art. During his career, he has worked on numerous projects. Some of his best known are the feature-length animated film “Princess Arete” (2001), the animated TV series “Black Lagoon” (2006), and the feature-length animated film “Mai Mai Miracle” (2009). Set in Hiroshima and Kure, his feature-length animated film, “In this Corner of the World” (2016) became a long-running film. Its sequel, “In this Corner (and Other Corners) of the World,” was released in December 2019. Most recently, he worked as a producer on HARUMOTO Yujiro's 2021 live-action film “Yuko no Tenbin”.