Special Guests

Kiyoshi Kurosawa – CUT ABOVE Award Winner

Appearing at: Cloud, Serpent’s Path (2024), License to Live

JAPAN CUTS powered by GU is honored to award legendary director Kiyoshi Kurosawa with this year’s CUT ABOVE Award prior to the screening of our centerpiece film, Cloud. Kurosawa was born in July 1955 in Kobe, Japan, and he started directing 8mm independent films while in college. He made his commercial film debut in 1983 with Kandagawa Wars. In 1997, his thriller Cure brought him international attention, and this was followed by further global success with Serpent’s Path (1998), License to Live (1998) and Pulse (2001). His Bright Future was a Palme d’Or nominee at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. In 2015, his film Journey to the Shore won Best Director in Un Certain Regards in Cannes. In 2016, his thriller Creepy premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. In 2020, Kurosawa won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the Venice International Film Festival for his film Wife of a Spy. We are honored to present premieres of two of his newest works: Cloud and Serpent’s Path (2024), along with a retrospective screening of License to Live on 35mm.

Yuumi Kawai – Award-Winning Actress

Appearing at: She Taught Me Serendipity, A Girl Named Ann

Yuumi Kawai was born in 2000 in Tokyo. She began to receive acclaim and awards early in her acting career for films including It’s a Summer Film (JC 2021) and A Balance. In 2024, she starred in Desert of Namibia which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI Prize. She received the Japan Academy Film Prize’s award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for A Girl Named Ann, screening this year at JAPAN CUTS. Her additional recent work include She Taught Me Serendipity and Teki Cometh, both also screening at the festival this year, as well as A Bad Summer, Renoir and Look Back (JC 2024).

Kako Annika Esashi – Director of End of Dinosaurs

Appearing at: SHORT CUTS

Kako Annika Esashi is a filmmaker whose work blends drama, satire and documentary to explore themes of home, in-betweenness and the contradictions of progress. Her short End of Dinosaurs won the Special Jury Prize at the Pia Film Festival and screened at the 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival. Born in the U.S., she has lived and worked in Uganda, the Comoros and Japan, including working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Esashi has crewed on eight narrative features and holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently developing a narrative film project in Tokyo and a documentary on post-fire recovery in Lahaina, Maui.

Keiichiro Hirano – Original Author of The Real You

Appearing at:

The Real You

Keiichiro Hirano is an award-winning Japanese author whose debut novel Eclipse won the celebrated Akutagawa Prize when he was only 23. Renowned for his psychological insight and exploration of universal themes like identity, love and acceptance, his work spans literary fiction, essays and sci-fi. His novels have been widely translated, and his At the End of the Matinee, A Man and The Real You have all been adapted into films. A former cultural envoy to Paris, he has delivered lectures across Europe and appeared in a TED Talk. His books available in English include Eclipse, At the End of the Matinee and A Man. He has also published in Japan a critical study on Yukio Mishima and, most recently, the short story collection Mt. Fuji.

Rii Ishihara – Actress in & Co-Director of The Tree of Sinners

Appearing at: SHORT CUTS

After a career in medical research and development, she began acting and has since appeared in over 50 films by many acclaimed directors. Her notable works include Wild Virgins (dir. Kenichi Ugana, Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival), The Lump in My Heart (dir. Shingo Matsumura, Tokyo International Film Festival) — a film in which she played a key role and also served as a producer — and Visitors (Complete Edition) (dir. Kenichi Ugana, Slamdance Film Festival). Ishihara and composer Hiroyuki Onogawa co-direct films as a married couple. Their debut short Flashback Before Death won Best Short at Sitges Film Festival (’22) and Fantafestival (’23) and was nominated at ten festivals, including JAPAN CUTS. Their latest work is a Korean omnibus horror drama, for which they directed a segment titled Komoriuta.

Stephen Lyman – Executive Producer of The Spirit Of Japan

Appearing at: The Spirit of Japan

Lyman is one of the leading global experts on authentic Japanese shochu. He has been working at Yamatozakura Distillery in Kagoshima Prefecture seasonally since 2013 and has now made shochu in Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Kumamoto and even Brooklyn. In 2018, he relocated from NYC to Fukuoka, Japan. On International Sake Day 2019 his first book, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks, was released worldwide by Tuttle Publishing and in 2020 was nominated for a James Beard Book Award. He is the co-host of the Japan Distilled podcast. The Spirit of Japan is his first documentary. Further in the film world, Lyman has produced five narrative fiction films including the 2006 Native American short film Sunshine which aired on PBS and is now part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. He also co-wrote and directed the short film The Fairy Princess which played at film festivals in seven countries and won Best Comedy Short Film at the 2010 Moondance Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado.

Natsume Mito – Actress in Kaiju Guy

Appearing at: Kaiju Guy

Natsume Mito was born on February 20, 1990 in Nara Prefecture. She began her career as a model in 2013 and made her debut as a musical artist in 2015 with Maegami Kirisugita, produced by Yasutaka Nakata. In 2018, she began her work as an actress as well, starring in the drama series and film Kakegurui and the NHK series Ochoyan. She also dubbed the main character, Judy, in all three Paddington films in Japan and has continued her work across a wide range of genres, including film, TV series, and stage productions.

Megumi Okawara – Actor in & Director of So Beautiful, Wonderful and Lovely

Appearing at: So Beautiful, Wonderful and Lovely

Megumi Okawara was born in Tokyo in 1994. She began working as an actor and film director while still in college. Her style is characterized by her bird’s-eye view of the characters’ different situations and depicting them as humorous moments, and her unique writing style.Her previous directorial works include I don’t look for swim ring (2012), Sell mind (2014), I Steam All (2015), HAHAGARU (2016), and Backflow Bamboo Cutter Story (2016). In 2025, she directed her first feature film So Beautiful, Wonderful and Lovely which won the JAPAN CUTS Award in the Indie Forum category at the 2025 Osaka Asian Film Festival.

Hiroyuki Onogawa – Composer & Co-Director of The Tree of Sinners

Appearing at: SHORT CUTS

After graduating from university, he moved to France to study film music. He debuted as a film composer with Sogo (Gakuryu) Ishii’s August in the Water. Since then, he has composed music for numerous films by Sogo Ishii, including Labyrinth of Dreams (1997, Berlin International Film Festival Panorama Section), Gojoe (2000, Toronto International Film Festival), and Electric Dragon 80000V (2001, Toronto International Film Festival). He has also worked extensively with Koji Fukada, composing for films such as Harmonium, which won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and A Girl Missing (2019, Locarno International Film Festival). Onogawa and actress Rii Ishihara co-direct films as a married couple. Their debut short Flashback Before Death won Best Short at Sitges Film Festival (’22) and Fantafestival (’23) and was nominated at ten festivals, including JAPAN CUTS. Their latest work is a Korean omnibus horror drama, for which they directed a segment titled Komoriuta.

Joseph Overbey – Director & Cinematographer of The Spirit Of Japan

Appearing at: The Spirit of Japan

Joseph Overbey is a Brooklyn-based cinematographer and motion picture colorist whose work celebrates the interplay of light, color and the human experience. With a diverse portfolio spanning narrative, documentary and experimental films, Overbey brings a distinctive aesthetic style shaped by a lifelong love of visual storytelling to his collaborations. His approach is driven by a deep curiosity about life, culture and the dynamic world we live in. As Director of Photography, Joseph has lensed several independent narrative and documentary films featured at prestigious festivals including the San Diego Independent Filmmaker’s Festival, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Fantasia and Toronto’s Inside Out Film Festival. His commercial work includes collaborations with notable clients such as ARTE, Communiqué Magazine and others. A 2024 Filmshop Breakthrough Fellow, Overbey has been an active member of this nonprofit collective of independent filmmakers since 2018. In 2020, he was selected for Filmshop Studio, Brooklyn’s first cooperative film studio and has served as co-leader of the North Brooklyn workshop group (2021~2022).

Amélie Ravalec – Director of Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers

Appearing at: Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers

Amélie Ravalec is a London-based Parisian film director and producer, photographer, editor and colourist. Ravalec’s films have been released theatrically worldwide with over 1200 screenings in cinemas, festivals, museums and cultural institutions in 50 countries. Her work has been acquired by networks including ARTE, Sky Arts UK and ORF Austria and has received over a dozen international awards. Ravalec is the director and producer of films Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers, Sumarsólstöður, Labyrinth of the Unseen World, Japan Visions (in post-production) and more. She is the author and designer of Japan Art Revolution, published by Thames & Hudson. Ravalec founded publishing company Lone Gentlemen Publishing, where she publishes limited-edition art and photography books and prints. She is also a record collector and DJ. She co-founded underground techno record label and events organization Fondation Sonore in 2011 with Gregorio Sicurezza and Brussels warehouse club The Lodge in 2014.

Shoko Tamai – Director & Choreographer of Flow

Appearing at: SHORT CUTS

Shoko Tamai is an award-winning choreographer and dancer whose work fuses ballet, contemporary movement and martial arts to explore themes of human connection, mythology and environmental consciousness. Beginning her training at the age of two, she studied at world-renowned institutions including the Central School of Ballet, the American Academy of Ballet and Yumi Classical Ballet Studio. She has performed with leading companies such as the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Cirque du Soleil, Semperoper Dresden Ballet and Roma Ballet, gracing some of the world’s most prestigious stages including the Royal Opera House in London, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Theatre Royal Glasgow, Lincoln Center and Jacob’s Pillow. In 2024, Tamai directed her first dance film—a milestone that garnered critical acclaim across the international film festival circuit. Tamai’s choreography has been featured at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and in NAUM at Cenote Cave in Mexico, where she currently directs Amaterasu, an immersive performance unfolding in a natural cenote, with dancers moving both underwater and on land—blending ancient mythology with contemporary movement.

Junichiro Yagi – Director of Kaiju Guy

Appearing at: Kaiju Guy

Junichiro Yagi, born in Gifu Prefecture in 1988, shot his first films during his school days. He went on to study directing at Nihon University College of Art before working as a talent manager and head of production for TV shows. His feature film Minori Yuku was nominated for Best Film at the 63rd Blue Ribbon Awards. He is visiting JAPAN CUTS for the first time to introduce his second feature film, Kaiju Guy!

Tekkan Wakamatsu – Featured in The Spirit of Japan

Appearing at: The Spirit of Japan

Tekkan Wakamatsu is the 5th generation master brewer-distiller of Yamatozakura, a 170-year-old family-owned and operated shochu distillery in Kagoshima Prefecture. Born in Ichiki Township, Tekkan studied sociology in Tokyo before taking a job as a sales representative for one of Japan’s largest advertising agencies. When he wasn’t making deals, he was DJing and still loves listening to vinyl.

He returned to Ichiki to begin making traditional handmade sweet potato shochu (one of just four distilleries in the prefecture that use a 100% handmade process) alongside his father, using what Tekkan lovingly refers to as the “sadistic system.” Since his father’s retirement, Tekkan has been responsible for every aspect of production. He is passionate about Kagoshima Prefecture’s sweet potato shochu culture and is dedicated to spreading this culture across Japan.

Rocko Zevenbergen – Actor in The Gesuidouz

Appearing at:The Gesuidouz

An indie-film Vespucci, Rocko Zevenbergen is best known for his highly provocative cinematic debut I Need You Dead! and as the face of indie film company Bad Taste Video. Zevenbergen is also known for his work in collaboration with director Kenichi Ugana, in front of the camera as Santarou in The Gesuidouz and behind the scenes on Visitors (Complete Edition) and the upcoming I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director. A rebel of independent cinema, Zevenbergen is a major advocate of experimenting with the medium and providing opportunities to aspiring artists who can’t afford to pursue a traditional film degree.

Chiaki Yanagimoto

Chiaki Yanagimoto is a Japanese-born, Los Angeles-based producer, director, and founder of Synepic Entertainment. Her first produced feature, Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf (2009), became a cult hit, launching her career with a series of festival-favorite genre films. In 2023, Chiaki made her directorial debut with AUM: The Cult at the End of the World, which premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2022, Synepic launched SAKKA, a platform dedicated to bringing Japanese independent cinema to global audiences and supporting Japanese filmmakers on the world stage.

Rowena Santos Aquino

Rowena Santos Aquino teaches courses on documentary film history and theory and international cinemas and cultures in the Department of Cinematic Arts at California State University, Long Beach. Her research interests concern documentary film form, modes of testimony, and performance; the critical points where documentary and fiction film forms meet; and hydropoetics in film. She is currently co-authoring the first English-language monograph on the documentary filmmaking partnership and filmography of Hara Kazuo and Kobayashi Sachiko.

Desmond Thorne

Desmond Thorne is a filmmaker and film programmer living in NYC. He has previously programmed with NewFest: NY’s LGBTQ Film Festival, and is currently a Film Programmer at Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn.