The 17th Japanese Film Festival is on full swing in Melbourne, playing commercial fare, classics and festival favorites that have been igniting the rest of the world this year.
Twitch colleagues Andrew Mack and Diva Vélez got to sit down with two of the great and prominent directors featured in the festival, check out their in-depth interviews below!
Shinsuke Sato and Library Wars:
Shinsuke Sato is an award winning film director, screenplay writer and video game designer. He joined a collaboration of Production IG and Fuji Television on a full-length animation film Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror, which screened at the 10th Japanese Film Festival in 2011. He directed GANTZ and the sequel GANTZ Perfect Answer. Both films became box office hits grossing over 300 million yen. His latest film, Library Wars is a live-action sci-fi adventure adapted from the bestselling novel and anime series originally written by Hiro Arikawa.
Andrew Mack's review is here and you'll find his in-depth conversation with Shinsuke Sato here.
Satoshi Miki and It's Me It's Me:
Satoshi Miki, Director and Screenwriter of award-winning Adrift in Tokyo, is renowned for his ability to effortlessly weave tales that seem humorously pointless but provoke deep-thought. He started stage directing and expanded into television drama series and films such as Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia, which screened at the 2008 Udine Far East Film, and Instant Swamp, which premiered in North America at the 2009 Fantasia International Film Festival. His latest film, Ore, Ore (It's Me, It's Me) follows a man Hitoshi Nagano, who yearns for some kind of escape and is lured into the world of telephone scamming. This scenario turns quickly into a surreal nightmare as Hitoshi's life is gradually invaded by new and different incarnations of himself. And when the doppelgangers start turning rogue, Hitoshi needs to figure out how to save himself from his own worst enemy - himself.
Christopher Bourne's review here.
Diva Vélez's linked in-depth interview here.
The 17th Japanese Film Festival is now playing in Melbourne Australia from 28th-8th December, check out the schedule here