By Mike Sullivan Can you tell us about your background? I was born in Chiba, and I am the daughter of the owner of a Japanese restaurant which dates back to the Meiji era. From since I was young my mother, the proprietress, said that ‘it is important for children to be able to touch […]
Tag: Japanese Cinema
Interview with Elisa Yanagi – Actress in Movie Lust of Angels
Please tell us about how you became involved in the movie “The Lust of Angels” I received an offer from the director. Saori and her friend didn’t share the same values, although they wanted to arrest molesters together, Saori actually is a complicated person. How did you feel about Saori as a character? I think […]
Overview of 2014 Life – Cool Japan!
This year we decided to create a new section which we entitled ‘Life,’ we saw this as an opportunity to go a little outside of Japanese crafts and culture and introduce exciting talent in many different creative fields. This experiment seems to have been a success, we have met lots of interesting people, and quite […]
Interview with Hirobumi Watanabe – Film Director
Translated by Weini Liao What was the trigger for becoming a director? It was from the influence of my father, I’ve been a big fan of movies and the Beatles since I was a child. I watched so many movies when I was a student that my teacher even reprimanded me for watching too many […]
Interview with Kosuke Takaya – Film Director Buy Bling, Get One free
Kosuke Takaya is a young and exciting film director whose movie Buy Bling, Get One Free was recently shown at the Raindance Film Festival in London, and is being released on a DVD which includes films by other up and coming directors: http://thirdwindowfilms.com/films/new-directors-from-japan Kosuke Takaya’s film was part of a Japanese governmental initiative run by […]
Interview with Film Director Yosuke Fujita – Latest Movie Fuku-chan of FukuFuku Flats
Interview and photo by Mike Sullivan. Today your movie Fuku-chan of FukuFuku Flats will be showing at the Raindance Film Festival, previously you directed Fine, Totally Fine – was this your first movie? Yes, that is correct. Although that was my first commercial movie, before that I had made a number of independent movies. I […]
An Interview with Nagisa Isogai – Talented Up and Coming Film Director
Interview and photos by Mike Sullivan. Is Lust of Angels your first movie? I heard about another movie called My Baby? Yes, My Baby was my first movie and Lust of Angels is my second movie. I understand that you wrote the screenplays for both of your movies, could you tell us a bit about […]
Interview with Thomas Lim – Actor, Producer and Director based in Tokyo
By Mike Sullivan In the past you have travelled through many countries, studied at Rose Bruford College in London and at the Beijing Sports University, and now live in Japan – how did you end up settling in Tokyo? That’s right. I’m from Singapore and had studied theatre in London, and Chinese Kung Fu in […]
Interview with Junichi Kajioka – Actor, Director, and Writer
Interview by Mike Sullivan Please introduce yourself and your background. I’m a London-based Japanese writer, director and actor. I’ve lived and acted in Tokyo, Beijing, London and now I’m trying to apply my creativity in India. I’ve just finished my first directorial short film called “IMPHAL 1944” and I am writing the script for a […]
Interview with Akira Nagai – CM and Film Director
By Mike Sullivan. Translation by Saneyuki Owada We interviewed film director Akira Nagai, who recently made his first film ‘Judge!’, at the Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2014 in London. He normally directs advertisements, known in Japan as CMs and his work has included ‘TOYOTOWN,’ ‘GREEN DAKARA’ and more in Japan. The movie ‘Judge!’ is […]
Interview with Saera Jin – Film Director based in London and Tokyo
By Mike Sullivan Please tell us about where you are from in Japan and your background. I was born in Yokohama and grew up in Tokyo. I studied fashion photography at the London College of Communication and did my Masters in Creative Writing at Brunel University. So basically, I’m a Tokyo Girl, but also a […]
Interview with Yumi Goto – ‘Be my Baby’ Actress
Interview by Saneyuki Owada, translation by Mike Sullivan This year at the Terracotta Far East Film Festival in London it was possible to see the movie Be My Baby (恋の渦), just before this event we were lucky enough to be able to interview one of the actresses who appeared in this film. The interview took […]
Terracotta Film Festival London
By Mike Sullivan Previously we discussed the Terracotta Film Festival, in particular the Japanese movies that were being shown as can be seen here. http://terracottafestival.com/ This was the fifth year that this event has taken place and we were privileged not only to attend the press event, see Japanese movies and enjoy the after-party, but […]
Terracotta Far East Asian Film Festival Press Event, London
By Mike Sullivan The Terracotta Far East Film Festival has been running for five years in London, UK and it is an increasingly big event, I was lucky enough this year to get invited to the press event and see a preview of the movies and events that will take place later in May. It […]