Iwai Shunji
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Iwai Shunji
is a Japanese film director, video artist, writer and documentary maker. Life and career Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment industry by directing TV dramas and music videos. Then, in 1993, his TV drama, ''Fireworks'', brought him critical praise and the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his portrayal of a group of children in the town of Iioka. In 1995 he went on to start his career in feature films, starting with the box-office hit '' Love Letter'', in which he cast pop singer Miho Nakayama in dual roles. ''Love Letter'' also launched the movie career of Miki Sakai who won a Japanese Academy Award as 'Newcomer of the Year' for her portrayal of Itsuki Fujii as a young girl. Iwai collaborated with cinematographer Noboru Shinoda to produce a film praised for its evocative winter cinematography. ''Love Letter'' made an impact in other east Asia ...
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Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring every two years, the festival became an annual event in 1998. It is one of the four international animated film festivals sponsored by the International Animated Film Association (french: Association internationale du film d'animation, or ASIFA). The festival is a competition between animated films of various techniques (traditional, cut-outs, claymation, 3DCG, etc.) classified in various categories: * Feature films * Short films * Films produced for television and advertising * Student films * Films made for the internet (since 2002) * Feature films contrechamp in competition (since 2007) Throughout the festival, in addition to the competing films projected in various cinemas of t ...
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All About Lily Chou-Chou
All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All album), 1999 * ''All'' (Descendents album) or the title song, 1987 * ''All'' (Horace Silver album) or the title song, 1972 * ''All'' (Yann Tiersen album), 2019 * "All" (song), by Patricia Bredin, representing the UK at Eurovision 1957 * "All (I Ever Want)", a song by Alexander Klaws, 2005 * "All", a song by Collective Soul from ''Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid'', 1994 Science and mathematics * ALL (complexity), the class of all decision problems in computability and complexity theory * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia * Anterolateral ligament Sports * American Lacrosse League * Arena Lacrosse League, Canada * Australian Lacrosse League Other uses * All, Missouri, a community in the United States * All, a brand of Sun Produ ...
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J-pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional music of Japan, and significantly in 1960s pop and rock music. J-pop replaced ''kayōkyoku'' ("Lyric Singing Music", a term for Japanese popular music from the 1920s to the 1980s) in the Japanese music scene. J-rock bands such as Happy End fused the Beatles and Beach Boys-style rock with Japanese music in the 1960s1970s. J-country had popularity during the international popularity of Westerns in the 1960s1970s as well, and it still has appeal due to the work of musicians like Charlie Nagatani and venues including Little Texas, Tokyo. J-rap became mainstream with producer Nujabes and his work on ''Samurai Champloo'', Japanese pop culture is often seen with anime in hip hop. Other trends ...
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Ryuhei Kitamura
(born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Biography Early life Kitamura was born in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He dropped out of high school at age 17 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, where he attended a school for visual arts. His first film as director was the short ''Exit'', which he made as his graduation piece at age 19. Career After graduating, he returned to Japan to establish Napalm Films, his independent production studio. His featurettes ''Down to Hell'' and ''Heat after Dark'' were successful in film festivals, and he soon found his first mainstream success with the cult film '' Versus''. The film launched the career of stars Tak Sakaguchi and Hideo Sakaki, and brought Kitamura international recognition when it was released on DVD outside Japan in 2004. In 2002, Kitamura directed the short film ''The Messenger: Requiem for the Dead'' as part of the ''Jam Films'' project, as well as ''Alive''. In 2003, he directed a feature film ad ...
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The Inugamis (2006 Film)
is a 2006 Japanese drama film written and directed by Kon Ichikawa. It is a remake of his own 1976 film ''The Inugami Family (1976 film), The Inugami Family'', and would prove to be Ichikawa's final film. A few minutes' footage of Ichikawa at work directing can be seen in the 2006 documentary ''The Kon Ichikawa Story''. The film was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival. Cast * Kōji Ishizaka as Kosuke Kindaichi * Nanako Matsushima as Tamayo Nonomiya * Kikunosuke Onoe(:ja:尾上菊之助 (5代目), 尾上菊之助) as Sukekiyo Inugami / Shizuma Aonuma * Sumiko Fuji as Matsuko Inugami * Keiko Matsuzaka as Takeko Inugami * Hisako Manda as Umeko Inugami * Shingo Katsurayama as Suketake Inugami * as Suketomo Inugami * Yukijiro Hotaru as Kōkichi Inugami * as Saruzō * Saburo Ishikura as Fujisaki Kanshiki-ka-in * as Senba Keiji * Kyoko Fukada as Haru *Tamao Nakamura *Mitsuko Kusabue *Hideji Ōtaki as Ōyama *Kōki Mitanias Nasu Hotel owner *Takeshi Katō (actor ...
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Kon Ichikawa
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won two BAFTA Film Awards, and the 19th-century revenge drama ''An Actor's Revenge'' (1963). His film ''Odd Obsession'' (1959) won the Jury Prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. Early life and career Ichikawa was born in Ise, Mie Prefecture as Giichi Ichikawa (市川儀一). His father died when he was four years old, and the family kimono shop went bankrupt, so he went to live with his sister. He was given the name "Kon" by an uncle who thought the characters in the kanji 崑 signified good luck, because the two halves of the Chinese character look the same when it is split in half vertically. As a child he loved drawing and his ambition was to become an artist. He also loved films and was a fan of "chambara" or samurai films. In his teens ...
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Shoko Aida
is a female J-pop artist and actress. She was born in Higashimurayama, Tokyo, and debuted as a member of the J-Pop duo Wink. She began working as a solo artist on 1 April 1996, one month after Wink dissolved. She collaborated with Kaori Iida from Morning Musume for one DVD and one photobook in 2004. She got married in 2008 and in 2012, she gave birth to her first child, a girl. Discography Albums * ''Delphinium'' (mini album, outside Wink) (25 May 1992) * ''Joia'' (25 May 1996) * ''Luz'' (25 May 1997) * ''Paris, je t'aime d'amour'' (29 January 2003) * ''To Pathos'' (27 November 2003) Singles * "I Julia" (20 January 1996) * "Joia" (25 April 1996) * "Hadaka de Nemurimasho" (25 August 1996) * "Yurikago wo Yusurarete" (2 May 1998) * "Konya Dake Kitto" (with Stardust Revue) (15 May 2000) * "Kureta no Shiroi Suna" (28 April 2004) Compilations * ''C'est mon na – Best of Shoko Aida'' (30 January 2002) DVD * ''Aegekai – Shoko Aida & Kaori Iida'' (4 February 2004) Filmography ...
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Yū Aoi
is a Japanese actress and model. She made her film debut as Shiori Tsuda in Shunji Iwai's 2001 film ''All About Lily Chou-Chou''. She subsequently portrayed Tetsuko Arisugawa in ''Hana and Alice'' (2004), also directed by Iwai, Kimiko Tanigawa in the hula dancing film ''Hula Girls'' and Hagumi Hanamoto in the 2006 live-action adaptation of the ''Honey and Clover'' manga series. She has won numerous awards for her performances on screen, including the Japan Academy Prize and Kinema Junpo Awards for best supporting actress in 2007 for ''Hula Girls'' and Rookie of the Year for continued performances in the field of ''Films in Media and Fine Arts'' by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan in 2009. Biography Early career Yu Aoi made her stage debut as Polly in the 1999 rendition of ''Annie'', followed by her appearance as a regular on TV Tokyo's ''Oha Suta'' (The Super Kids Station) in 2000. A year later, she debuted in Shunji Iwai's ''All About ...
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Hayato Ichihara
is a Japanese actor who is best known for his roles in film and television, including the 2001 film ''All About Lily Chou-Chou''. In 2009 he was voted one of Oricon's "fresh Stars" of the year. In 2009 he was also voted the 4th most attractive male celebrity in a swimsuit. In 2011 in a poll by NTT DoCoMo Ichihara was voted as having the 7th best abs based on 1,720 votes. Filmography Movies *'' Ju-on 2'' (2000) - Naoki *''All About Lily Chou-Chou'' Riri Shushu no subete (2001) - Yuichi Hasumi *''Yomigaeri'' (2002) - Katsunori Yamada *''Onmyoji 2'' (2003) - Susa *''Worst by Chance ''(2003) - Hidenori Kaneshiro *''T.R.Y.'' (2003) *''The Angel's Egg'' (2006) - Ayuta Ipponyari *'' Rainbow Song'' (2006) - Tomoya Kishida *''Check It Out, Yo! Chekeraccho!!'' (2006) - Toru Isaka *''700 Days of Battle: Us vs. the Police'' (2008) *'' God's Puzzle'' (2008) *''Negative Happy Chain Saw Edge''(2008) - Yosuke Yamamoto *'' Rookies'' (2009) *''Box!'' (2010) *'' Saru Lock The Movie'' (2010) *'' ...
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Rainbow Song
is a 2006 Japanese film by director Naoto Kumazawa and produced by Shunji Iwai (who also co-wrote the screenplay under pseudonym Aminosan). Kumazawa had worked with Iwai before, having directed the making-of documentary for '' Swallowtail Butterfly''. Plot Tomoya Kishida (Hayato Ichihara) is working as a staffer in a television studio when he hears about the death of his close friend, Aoi Sato (Juri Ueno). This sparks his recollection of the events in life they shared from meeting at a record store, shooting a short film as part of their university film club, to saying their last goodbyes. The movie moves through their times together. They initially meet while Kishida is stalking Aoi's friend. Initially repelled by the awkward Kishida, Aoi uses Kishida in a student film. They make the film together, and Aoi is forced to step in as the lead, whereupon she kisses Kishida. They eventually spend a lot of time together and start to get close, until Aoi decides to go overseas. Kis ...
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Matsu Takako
(born June 10, 1977) also known as is a Japanese actress and pop singer. Personal life Matsu was born to a family of buyō and kabuki actors, including her father Matsumoto Hakuō II, her mother and businesswoman Noriko Fujima, her uncle, Nakamura Kichiemon II, her elder brother Matsumoto Kōshirō X, her sister Kio Matsumoto, and stage director Kazuhisa Kawahara. She married guitarist and record producer Yoshiyuki Sahashi on December 28, 2007. Her married name is . She has the name of Natori of the Matsumoto school of Nippon Buyō (Japanese dancing); . She chose the surname "Matsu" to honor the family. In an interview, she said she and her siblings are close to their mother. Career Matsu starred in her stage debut '' Ninjō-banashi: Bunshichi Mottoi'' at Kabuki-za. Her first television role was in the NHK Drama ''Hana no Ran'' and starred in the NHK drama ''Kura''. Because Shirayuri Gakuen, her high school, prohibited working in the industry, she moved to Horikoshi Hi ...
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Hana And Alice
is a 2004 Japanese film, Japanese teen romance film by director Shunji Iwai. The film, shot on High-definition video, HD digital video by the director of photography, Noboru Shinoda, who shared a longstanding working relationship with Shunji Iwai, concerns the life of two girls, the titular Hana (Anne Suzuki) and Alice (Yū Aoi), and the stress placed on their friendship as they move into Secondary education in Japan, high school. It was theatrical released in Japan in 2004. It moved into theaters in other Asian territories later in 2004 and 2005, and into western film festivals, such as New York Asian Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival. Plot When Alice develops a crush on a stranger at the train station, she offers her best friend, Hana, the stranger's "half brother," Masashi. Hana declines, but after watching Masashi from a distance, she develops feelings for him. She stalks him by travelling on his regular train throughout the winter. During the spring, Ha ...
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