17/11/2024
Thanks to everyone who have followed our page. We invited you here not to just look, but to participate with us in the making of this film. We need your donations. We’re asking for money for a December 7 and January, 2025 shoot.
In 2021, we went looking for the 1959 film Kiku And Isamu by Japanese director Tadashi Imai.
We screened the film at Chicago Filmmakers.
Deborah DeSnoo, co-producer on another project we are developing, a documentary on African Warrior/Samurai Yasuke, knew the lead actress from the film.
A 30 year resident of Tokyo, she was very involved in the theater and film industry. I met her with St Clair Bourne at a producers meeting in Los Angeles in 2008. She has just co-directed a PBS doc, Japan Memoirs of A Secret Empire.
I really wanted to screen this film at Chicago filmmakers, we located a subtitled digital print and tried to hunt down the distributors. Before that, Deborah had located in of the stars of the film, Takahashi Emi, who still performs amazing concerts. She appeared at the screening with Debra, via zoom.
The idea for the documentary was born at that screening, June 11, 2022.
Our first shoot was at Setsubun, Fri, Feb 3, 2023. By then we were able to locate the co-star George Okunoyama, and away we went.
