(born 11 September 1961,

Maizuru, Kyoto is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 78,644 in 34817 households and a population density of 230 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Maizuru is located in northern Kyoto Prefe ...

) is a Japanese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Career

Shiota attended

Rikkyo University , also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan. Rikkyo is known as one of the six leading universities in the field of sports in Tokyo (東京六大学 "Big Six" — Rikkyo University, University of ...

, where he was in a film club with other students such as

Makoto Shinozaki (born 1963 in Tokyo) is a Japanese film director. Career Born in Tokyo, Shinozaki attended Rikkyo University, where he studied under Shigehiko Hasumi, made 8mm films, and appeared in the then amateur works of other Rikkyo graduates such as Kiy ...

and

Shinji Aoyama was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, composer, film critic, and novelist. He graduated from Rikkyo University. He won two awards at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival for his film ''Eureka (2000 film), Eureka''. Biography Shinji Aoyama was b ...

and began making

8mm film 8 mm or 8mm may refer to: ;Film technology * 8 mm film, a photographic cine film format principally intended for domestic use. The term may also refer to later variants: ** Super 8 mm film ** Single-8 film ** 8 mm video format, a type of video reco ...

s in the tradition of other Rikkyo students like

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he has worked in a variety of genres, Kurosawa is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre, his honorific ...

. His independently made films were recognized at the

Pia Film Festival The (also known as the PIA Film Festival or PFF for short) is an annual film festival established in 1977. According to film scholar Jasper Sharp, the festival "not only ranks as a vital hotbed from which the careers of some of Japan's most talen ...

and he began writing

film criticism Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Journalism, journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-m ...

and working as an assistant for Kurosawa and other filmmakers. He also studied screenwriting under

Atsushi Yamatoya was a Japanese film director, screenwriter and actor. His son is a fellow screenwriter and race horse owner . Life and career Yamatoya was born in Horonaicho, Mikasa, Hokkaido and raised in Tokyo. He graduated from the First Department of Litera ...

, who wrote scenarios for

Seijun Suzuki , born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predo ...

, and worked as the

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

for films by Takayoshi Yamaguchi. His first two films as a director, ''

Moonlight Whispers is a 1999 Japan film directed by Akihiko Shiota and based on the manga ''Gekko no sasayaki'' by Masahiko Kikuni. Plot A boy (Takuya) meets a girl (Satsuki), both 17 years of age, and they fall in love. When she discovers his fetishes Satsuki br ...

'' and '' Don't Look Back'', were both released in 1999 and earned Shiota the

Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award The is given annually by the Directors Guild of Japan to a new director of a film released that year who is considered the most "suitable" for the award. The winner is selected by a committee formed of DGJ members. All formats—feature film, docum ...

. ''Don't Look Back'' also won the Jury Prize at the

Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Harmful Insect is a 2002 Japanese drama film directed by Akihiko Shiota and starring Aoi Miyazaki. Cast * Aoi Miyazaki as Sachiko Kita * Seiichi Tanabe as Ogata * Tetsu Sawaki as Takao * Ryo Amamiya as Tokugawa * Koji Ishikawa as Kyuzo * Yū Aoi as Natsuko * Ry ...

'' (2002) screened at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

and earned two more awards at the Three Continents Festival. His first major commercial film, ''

Yomigaeri is a 2002 Japanese film directed by Akihiko Shiota that released theatrically on 18 January 2003. It features Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (of the pop group SMAP) and Yūko Takeuchi in the lead role. Plot Set in the city of Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, the ...

'', was the fourth biggest grossing Japanese film of 2003. ''

Canary Canary originally referred to the island of Gran Canaria on the west coast of Africa, and the group of surrounding islands (the Canary Islands). It may also refer to: Animals Birds * Canaries, birds in the genera ''Serinus'' and ''Crithagra'' i ...

'', his 2005 film inspired by the killings of

Aum Shinrikyo , formerly , is a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year. The group says tha ...

in 1995, won the top prize at the

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to ...

. ''

Dororo is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka's childhood memory of his friends pronouncing as ''dororo'' inspired the title of the series. ''Dororo'' was first serialized in Shogakukan's ''W ...

'', based on a

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such ...

, was the eighth top-grossing Japanese film of 2007.

Style and influence

In a

San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...

interview, Shiota talked about his influences: "

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute ...

Robert Aldrich Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His notable credits include '' Vera Cruz'' (1954), ''Kiss Me Deadly'' (1955), ''The Big Knife'' (1955), '' Autumn L ...

, and

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...

were directors that I'd admired as the gods of movies since I was in elementary school. ..In terms of films using youth as protagonists, I love the works by

Vitali Kanevsky Vitali Kanevsky (born 4 September 1935) is a Soviet film director and screenwriter. His film '' Zamri, umri, voskresni!'' won the Caméra d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Two years later, his film '' Samostoyatelnaya zhizn'' would win the ...

, the Russian filmmaker. ..I also have deep admiration for

Richard Fleischer Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. Though he ...

and

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blackliste ...

Filmography

* ''

'' (1999) * '' Don't Look Back'' (1999) * '' Gips'' (2001) * ''

Harmful Insect is a 2002 Japanese drama film directed by Akihiko Shiota and starring Aoi Miyazaki. Cast * Aoi Miyazaki as Sachiko Kita * Seiichi Tanabe as Ogata * Tetsu Sawaki as Takao * Ryo Amamiya as Tokugawa * Koji Ishikawa as Kyuzo * Yū Aoi as Natsuko * Ry ...

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2005) * '' A Heartful of Love'' (2005) * ''

'' (2007) * '' Dakishimetai: Shinjitsu no Monogatari'' (2014) * ''Farewell Song'' (2019) * ''The World with Maki'' (2022)

Bibliography

* ''Eigajutsu: Sono Enshutsu wa Naze Kokoro o Tsukamunoka'' (2014)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiota, Akihiko Japanese film directors Japanese screenwriters 1961 births Living people People from Kyoto Prefecture Rikkyo University alumni