Dir. KUMETA Tsuyoshi (Underdogs) Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1969. Graduated from the Department of Sociology and Cultural Anthropology at Tokyo Metropolitan University. Worked as a freelance assistant director on films such as Masato Harada's "20th Century Nostalgia" (1997), Hitos
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Jun 14, 2023 • Subscribe
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Director Spotlight #10: “Qualia”
Born in 1980, he first gained recognition as a finalist in the 1996 Junon Super Boy Contest, leading to work primarily as a model in advertising. In 2001,…
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Dir. SHIOTA Akihiko (The World of You) Born in Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture in 1961, Shiota has been a regular participant in the…
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Dir. NISHIKORI Yoshinari (The Takatsu River) Film director and screenwriter. Born in January 1962 in Izumo, the birthplace of Kabuki, Sake and Sumo…
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Director Spotlight #11:
Dir. SATO Yoshinori (Shinjuku Tiger) Yoshinori Sato was born in Aichi, Japan on February 1975. After graduating high school, he went to the…
Director Spotlight #2: “Backlight”
Dir. SUDO Ren (New Director) (Backlight) Born in Tokyo in 1996. While studying law at Keio University, he began working as a…
Director Spotlight: Takayuki Hirao
One of the most promising young anime directors that has come on the scene during the last decade is Takayuki Hirao [平尾隆之], who first came into my…
Director Spotlight #7: “Resonance”
Dir. TANAKA Toshinori (Resonance) Born in 1981 in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, Japan, Tanaka is a Filmmaker, a Lecturer at Fukuyama University, and the…
Director Spotlight #3: “Cafune”
Dir. KINEMURA Haruki (New Director) (Cafune) Born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture in 2001, Japan. After enrolling in Osaka University…
Director Spotlight #6: “NOT BEER”
Dir. NAKAGAWA Hirotaka (NOT BEER) Hirotaka Nakagawa was born in Aichi Prefecture and studied film production at university in Japan. He has worked…
Director Spotlight #8: “Toward Zero”
Dir. ITO Takashi (Toward Zero) ITO was born in Fukuoka in 1956. While studying in university, his experimental film SPACY(1981), premiered at MATSUMOTO…
Director Spotlight #5: “The Girls”
Born on April 20, 1984, in Tokyo, the director debuted with Dynamite Graffiti (2016), exploring Japan’s GAL culture. His next feature, Goodbye Silence (2018), depicts young people discovering…
News - Chicago Japan Film Collective
Nichijou - My Ordinary Life, Nichijou - My Ordinary Life: Episode 0
Director Spotlight #1: “Angry Son”
Dir. IIZUKA Kasho (Angry Son) Born in 1990 in Gunma Prefecture. He studied under film director NEGISHI Yoshitaro and screenwriter Masato Kato while…
Director Spotlight #3: “Copo a Copo”
Born in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture. After working as an assistant director for notable productions, including the TV dramas like From the North Country '98, Private Detective Mike…
Director Spotlight #9: “Not Born Yesterday”
Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1949, FUKUMA Kenji was a widely active poet, critic, and translator. He became engrossed in cinema during middle school, influenced by directors such…
Director Spotlight #1: “99% Cloudy... Always”
SANAGOUMI Midori is an actor and voice actor who began studying filmmaking in 2020. Her short film Under the Bridge won the newly introduced Special Jury Award at…
Director Spotlight #6: “House of Sayuri”
Born on June 1, 1973, in Fukuoka Prefecture, Shiraishi made his mark on the film scene with Violent Man (1997), co-directed with Akihiro Kasai, which won the Screenplay…
Director Spotlight #9: “Twilight Cinema Blues”
Dir. JOJO Hideo (Twilight Cinema Blues) Born in 975 in Hachioji City, Tokyo. Jojo graduated from Musashino Art University and accumulated a career…
Director Spotlight #7: “Leave in Summer”
Born in Hokkaido in 1996. “Tokeru” (2016) which Igashi made in college was officially selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival, Cinéfondation category. She made her theatrical debut…
Director Spotlight #2: “Bring Minyo Back!”
Born in 1982, Moriwaki began his career in advertising after graduating from Waseda University and later moved into production editing, establishing his independent career in 2011. Based in…
Director Spotlight #5: “I Quit Being “Friends””
Dir. IMAMURA Ayako (I Quit Being “Friends”) From Nagoya／President of Studio AYA Graduated from Aichi Education University, Faculty of Education／Studied film…
Director Spotlight #4: “Hoarder on the Border”
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Director Spotlight #8: “New Nemuro Pro Wrestling Story”
Born in 1976 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, he graduated from the Nihon University College of Art, majoring in film directing. He has directed a wide range of television programming,…
Director Spotlight #4: “Esper X Private Detective Agency - Searching for Good-Bye -”
Born September 1, 1973, in Tokyo and raised in Saitama, Koba is known for his unique blend of comedy, sci-fi, and fantasy. He launched his feature film career…
Director Spotlight #11: “Till The Day I Can Laugh About My Blues”
Born in 1997, Takeda is a graduate of Tokyo Polytechnic University’s Department of Imaging Arts. Since her university days, she has worked on numerous professional and amateur film…
Introducing Spotlight!
I’m pleased to announce a new addition to the blog: Spotlight.Starting this week, every Friday, I’ll shine a spotlight on various aspects of anime, movies, books, and other…
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Picking up where we left off in this magazine, up next is a section titled Fly! Gundam featuring an interview with Director Yoshiyuki Tomino. As usual, “Q:” denotes…
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