JAPAN CUTS Special Guests
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Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (director) Born in Hokkaido, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri quickly gained an international recognition with his sensational thesis film Kichiku (1997), an extremely brutal portrait of the 1970s student movement and its corruption. Kumakiri always enjoys exploring difficult topics, and Non-ko is his seventh feature film following Hole in the Sky (2001), Antenna (2004), The Violated Woman (2004), Green Mind, Metalbats (2006) and Freesia (2006, JAPAN CUTS 2007). |
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Keiko Kusakabe (producer) Born in Tokyo, Kusakabe first started her film career in 1986 as a freelance publicist. Since then she has been involved in all aspects of the film industry from acquisition, theatrical distribution, promotion, production, financing and foreign sales. She is one of the founding members of There’s Enterprise, Inc. which has produced and distributed many films by distinguished directors such as Shinya Tsukamoto (Bullet Ballet, 1998, A Snake of June, 2002, Vital, 2004, Haze, 2005), Toshiaki Toyoda (Blue Spring, 2001), Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Green Mind, Metal Bats, 2006, Non-ko, 2009) and Tak Sakaguchi (Be a Man! Samurai School, 2007). |
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Eiji Okuda (actor) Eiji Okuda was born in Aichi. His acting credits span numerous films and TV series in close collaboration with distinguished film directors such as Kei Kumai (The Sea and Poison, 1986) and Tatsumi Kumashiro (Bo no kanashimi, 1994). Okuda has also directed many award-winning films, including An Adolescent (2001), A Long Walk (2006, Grand Prix, Montreal World Film Festival) and Out of the Wind (2007), which stars his daughter, Sakura Ando, a rising star in Japan's indie scene. |
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Sion Sono (director) Born in Aichi, Sion Sono is known as a rebel essayist, poet and filmmaker. He received the PIA Film Festival (PFF) award for two consecutive years (1984 and 1985), and made Bicycle Sighs with PFF scholarship in 1990. Since directing the controversial psycho-horror, Suicide Circle in 2001, he has been invited to numerous film festivals, and has made film after film, including Strange Circle (2005), Noriko's Dinner Table (2006) and Exte (2006). Sono made a special appearance at JAPAN CUTS 2007 for the U.S. premiere of Exte. |
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Gen Takahashi (director) Born in Tokyo, Gen Takahashi began his film career at Toei's Tokyo studio. His theatrical and film directorial debut Heartless (1992) achieved enduring acclaim as a cult favorite and was followed by a number of popular films such as Young Blood Typhoon (1995) and Lady Plastic (2001). In 2004, Charon (2005) won the Fantaland Grand Prix (audience award) at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. His latest film, Goth (2008), is an adaptation of a popular horror novel by Otsu-ichi. |
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UrumaDelvi (artist) Best known for their animated music video, The Bottom Biting Bug, UrumaDelvi is the artistic collaboration of two animators, Uruma and Delvi, who first gained recognition with Shikato which was created for a popular children’s TV program. Since then, UrumaDelvi have worked prolifically as animation artists, musicians and graphic designers, all while developing an innovative computer animation software program, UrumaDelvi Paint. Their self-proclaimed dream is “to make the world vibrant and enjoyable”. |
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