Evento

Vampire:Special Screening And Q&A With Director Shunji Iwai

A vampire, who works as a teacher, searches for suicidal female students and seduces them prior to sucking their blood.A vampire, who works as a teacher, searches for suicidal female students and seduces them prior to sucking their blood.

One of the most popular and influential Japanese directors of his generation, the multi-talented Shunji Iwai is commonly recognized for his distinctive and innovative visual style. Although describing himself as an "eizo sakka" (visual artist), characters and plot themes are often excellently developed in his films, all of which he has personally scripted. Iwai has also edited several of his films, and has even scored the music for more recent efforts. Often using women protagonists, Iwai has garnered fine performances from Japanese Pop singers in key roles, most notably Miho Nakayama in Love Letter (1995) and Chara in Picnic (1996) and Swallowtail Butterfly (1996). A trend-setter, he has created a style that resonates with Japanese pop culture, striking a chord with contemporary Japanese youth, especially young women. Although Iwai's films have been well received and awarded in film festivals in and outside of Japan, notably in Toronto and Berlin, he and his films are not yet well known outside of Asia.