Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021 announces the members of the Competition Jury and the Housen Short Film Award Jury.
Competition Jury Members
ARIYOSHI Tsukasa (有吉司) / Japan / Representative of the movie distribution company Magic Hour
ARIYOSHI was in charge of film programming at Tokyo Theatres Company Inc. for ten years. While there, he participated in the production of “Charisma” (1999) directed by KUROSAWA Kiyoshi, and “EUREKA” (2011) directed by AOYAMA Shinji. After leaving the company, he founded Magic Hour. He has distributed the “McDull” series of Hong Kong animated films in Japan, the Iranian film “A Separation” (2011), the Filipino film “The Woman Who Left” (2016), the Danish film “Uncle” (2019), and the Vietnamese movie “ROM”, which will be screened at OAFF 2021.
KIMBARA Yuka (金原由佳) / Japan / Film Journalist
KIMBARA grew up in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. After graduating from Kwansei Gakuin University, she worked for a financial institution before entering the film industry. Over the past 30 years, she has interviewed more than 1,000 film directors and actors. Currently, she writes film reviews for film magazines such as “Kinema Junpo”, theater pamphlets, the Asahi Shimbun, “Haha no Tomo”, and others. She is also the author of “Broken Girls: Utsukushiku Kowasu Shōjo-tachi” and co-author of “Densetsu no Bijutsu Kantoku-tachi × TANEDA Yohei”. She has also given numerous lectures and hosted events, including a talk on the 20th anniversary of SŌMAI Shinji's death.
SUZUKI Takuji (鈴木卓爾) / Japan / Film Director, Actor
Born in Shizuoka in 1967. SUZUKI has directed feature-length films such as “I'm a Cat Stalker” (2009), “A Wife of Kitaro” (2010), “A Band Rabbit and a Boy” (2013), “Jogingu Wataridori” (2016), “A Message from Zon” (2018), and “RANDEN: The Comings and Goings on a Kyoto Tram” (OAFF 2019 Opening Film). He has also appeared in films such as “Devotion of Suspect X” (2008), “Seto Utsumi” (2016), “Aa, Koya” (2017), and “The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine” (2018). He is currently an assistant professor at Department of Film Production, Kyoto University of Art and Design.
Housen Short Film Award Jury Members
The jury for the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021 will decide which of the 12 films among the less-than-60-minute films which are screened at OAFF 2021 as Japan Premieres will take away the Housen Short Film Award.
OKUHARA Hiroshi (奥原浩志) / Japan / Film Director
OKUHARA started out shooting independent films and his first short, “Picnic” , won the audience award at the Pia Film Festival in 1993. Following that, he made his debut feature with “Timeless Melody” (2000) which won the New Current Award at the Busan International Film Festival. His second feature, “Wave”, won the NETPAC Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2002. He has lived in Beijing since 2008. His latest film “Hotel Iris” will be screened at OAFF 2021 in Competition.
YAMASAKI Noriko (山崎紀子) / Japan / Manager of the mini-theater Cine Nouveau
Born in Osaka in 1977. After studying oil painting at Osaka College of Art, YAMASAKI joined Cine Nouveau, a mini-theater in Nishi-ku, Osaka, in 2001. She was promoted to manager in 2008 and has curated a number of film programs since then. In 2018, Cine Nouveau, along with other theaters in the Keihanshin area, launched the . She has been a director of Japan Community Cinema Center since 2019.
YOKOHAMA Satoko (横浜聡子) / Japan / Film Director
Born in Aomori, YOKOHAMA attended the Film School of Tokyo where her graduation work “Chiemi and Kokkunpatcho” won the highest award at the 2006 CO2 open competition category. With that win came a grant with which she independently produced her first feature, “German + Rain” (2007) which helped her win the Directors Guild of Japan Newcomer Award and announce herself on the international stage. Next came “Bare Essence of Life” (2009) and “The Actor” (俳優 ⻲岡拓司) (2012) which have both been screened at international festivals. Her latest film “Ito” (2021) will be screened at OAFF 2021 in Competition.
