Tokyo Cowboy New York Premiere: Members-Only Screening

“Tokyo Cowboy is everything you want an independent film to be” – Filmmaker John Dahl

Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Marc Marriott and actor Goya Robles. Japan Society is excited to present the New York Premiere of Marc Marriott’s Tokyo Cowboy as a special free members-only event ahead of its nationwide theatrical on August 30th. Seating for this special event is complimentary and exclusively for Japan Society members. 

Businessman Hideki (Arata Iura) travels from Japan to Montana after convincing his boss (Ayako Fujitani) he can turn a failing ranch there into a successful business producing premium wagyu beef. After meeting ranch owner Peg (Robin Weigert) and ranch hand Javier (Goya Robles), he quickly learns his plan may not be as simple as he believed. As things start to unravel, cultures clash and Hideki soon finds himself between two worlds. 

Smart, funny, touching and beautiful to watch, Tokyo Cowboy is an independent cinema feast created by a talented team from across the globe. An international effort both in front of and behind the camera, Tokyo Cowboy was directed by Marc Marriott in his feature directorial debut, written by Dave Boyle and Ayako Fujitani, shot by cinematographer Oscar Ignacio Jimenez and edited by Yasu Inoue.

For more information about Tokyo Cowboy’s theatrical and streaming release, visit tokyocowboyfilm.com.

Dir. Marc Marriott, 2024, 118 min., DCP, color, in English and Japanese with English subtitles. With Arata Iura, Ayako Fujitani, Robin Weigert, Goya Robles.

About Goya Robles
Goya is recognized for his breakout role as Yago in the critically acclaimed series Get Shorty, Joaquin on Power Book 3: Raising Kanan and Monkey Morales on Netflix’s Griselda starring Sofia Vergara. He can also be seen playing Oscar Papa on the hit shows Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime. He has starred in numerous independent films, including a supporting lead in the movie 11:55 starring John Leguizamo and a lead role in the upcoming Tokyo Cowboy. He was seen in Apple TV’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever starring Zac Efron, Russell Crowe and Bill Murray. He executive produced the short film Wonder, winning over 20 national and international film festival awards, and he wrote a feature film script inspired by his life called To Be Loved. Both John Leguizamo and Mariska Hargitay are executive producing To Be Loved, with the film expected to shoot in the summer of 2025. Goya is a Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio and holds an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City.

About Director Marc Marriott
American director Marc Marriott lived in Japan as a missionary and worked as a filmmaking apprentice to acclaimed director Yoji Yamada. When Mariott returned to the U.S. he came across an article about a cattle ranch in Montana hosting Japanese workers. Fascinated by his own experience of living as a foreigner in a foreign land and pondering how those Japanese on a Montana cattle ranch must feel now, the story of Tokyo Cowboy was born. 

Marriott is an award-winning producer/director of television and film. During his professional career, Marriott has earned a reputation as a specialist in stories of real people in extraordinary situations from the History Channel’s Ax Men to the Discovery Channel’s Roush Racing: Driver X. He’s been a series producer and director for History, Discovery, Travel, FOX, VH1 and TLC among others. Marriott is a graduate of the directing program at UCLA. His first film, Short Order, won the Prix Canal Plus at the Henri Langlois International Film Festival in France and his short film The Snow Child played at Cannes. He has received the Independent Film Channel Award and the Jimmy Stewart Crystal Heart Award from the Heartland Film Festival. Marriott is a member of the Producers Guild of America.

Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Anime NYC and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, David Toberisky, and Film Circle members.

Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film Program. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film Program.