JCC E-Magazine November 2024

Mr Gakuryu Ishii sharing about his filmmaking journey.

During the Q&A session.

In conjunction with our Japanese Film Festival 2024, JCC, the Singapore Film Society and the Japan Foundation held a masterclass by film director Mr Gakuryu Ishii on Saturday, 5 October 2024. During the session, he talked about his journey in filmmaking and also gave an in-depth sharing about his latest feature film ‘The Box Man’, adapted from a novel by influential Japanese author Mr Kobo Abe.

Mr Gakuryu Ishii’s extensive filmography is birthed from his motivation to make films that he personally would like to watch. He mentioned that there is no right or wrong in interpreting film, as each person would have their own thoughts and feelings about a particular film. His latest film ‘The Box Man’ － which premiered at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival and featured in this year’s JFF － had a first filming attempt in 1997. Unfortunately, his plan at the time didn’t progress smoothly. However, decades later, he finally shot it with two of his original stars — Masatoshi Nagase and Koichi Sato — and the film finally saw the light!

Many fans of Mr Gakuryu Ishii turned up for the session, much to the filmmaker’s delightful surprise and he was also asked about his unique works such as ‘Mirrored Mind’ (2005) during the Q&A. The session was moderated by Mr Jesmen Tan, a filmmaker and lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts.

During the masterclass.		Many fans of the filmmaker took the opportunity to talk to him.
Mr Gakuryu Ishii sharing about his latest feature film ‘The Box Man’.		Mr Gakuryu Ishii showing his full filmography since the ‘80s.

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