Lee Sang-il
Birth : 1974-01-06, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
History
Lee Sang-il is a Korean-Japanese film director and screenwriter. His first film, “Chong,” was a short film about the lives of third generation Koreans living in Japan. “Hula Girls” was declared best Japanese film of 2006 by Kinema Junpo, and Lee won the Best Director and Best Screenplay prizes at the 2007 Japanese Academy Awards for the film. His film “Unforgiven” was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
Writer
On a rainy evening, 19-year-old university student Fumi Saeki happens to meet 9-year-old Sarasa Kanai in the park. Kanai Sarasa is soaking wet. She is separated from her parents and lives with her aunt, but she tells Saeki Fumi that she doesn't want to go back to her aunt. Saeki Fumi takes Kanai Sarasa to his apartment and they live together for the next 2 months. Saeki Fumi is then arrested for kidnapping. He is labeled as a dangerous kidnapper and Kanai Sarasa is labeled as a poor victim. 15 years later, Kanai Sarasa and Saeki Fumi happen to meet each other.
Director
On a rainy evening, 19-year-old university student Fumi Saeki happens to meet 9-year-old Sarasa Kanai in the park. Kanai Sarasa is soaking wet. She is separated from her parents and lives with her aunt, but she tells Saeki Fumi that she doesn't want to go back to her aunt. Saeki Fumi takes Kanai Sarasa to his apartment and they live together for the next 2 months. Saeki Fumi is then arrested for kidnapping. He is labeled as a dangerous kidnapper and Kanai Sarasa is labeled as a poor victim. 15 years later, Kanai Sarasa and Saeki Fumi happen to meet each other.
Director
Six directors picked a favorite song by Japanese punk rock band "The Blue Hearts" and made a short film inspired by the song.
Screenplay
A man brutally murders a married couple and leaves the word “ikari” (“rage”) written with their blood. The killer undergoes plastic surgery and flees. At three different locations in Japan, a male stranger appears. People suspect that the stranger might be the murderer.
Director
A man brutally murders a married couple and leaves the word “ikari” (“rage”) written with their blood. The killer undergoes plastic surgery and flees. At three different locations in Japan, a male stranger appears. People suspect that the stranger might be the murderer.
Screenplay
Set in Hokkaido, Japan in the 1880s. Jubei Kamata (Ken Watanabe), who is on the side of the Edo shogunate government, kills many people. His name is infamous in Kyoto. When the battle at Goryoukaku is about to be finished, Jubei disappears. 10 years later, Jubei lives with his kid in relative peace. He is barely able to make a living. Protecting his dead wife's grave, Jubei has decided to never pick up a sword again, but due to poverty he has no choice but to pick the sword again. Jubei becomes a bounty hunter.
Director
Set in Hokkaido, Japan in the 1880s. Jubei Kamata (Ken Watanabe), who is on the side of the Edo shogunate government, kills many people. His name is infamous in Kyoto. When the battle at Goryoukaku is about to be finished, Jubei disappears. 10 years later, Jubei lives with his kid in relative peace. He is barely able to make a living. Protecting his dead wife's grave, Jubei has decided to never pick up a sword again, but due to poverty he has no choice but to pick the sword again. Jubei becomes a bounty hunter.
Screenplay
Shimizu Yuichi is a shy and lonely day laborer looking for love. He aimlessly spends time corresponding with girls via telephone dating services and going on random encounters with girls looking for spending cash. His world is shattered one day when he is involved in the murder of one of his former encounters, the sweet-faced Ishibashi Yoshino who, after being jilted by playboy Masuo Keijo, berates and mocks the troubled loner.
Director
Shimizu Yuichi is a shy and lonely day laborer looking for love. He aimlessly spends time corresponding with girls via telephone dating services and going on random encounters with girls looking for spending cash. His world is shattered one day when he is involved in the murder of one of his former encounters, the sweet-faced Ishibashi Yoshino who, after being jilted by playboy Masuo Keijo, berates and mocks the troubled loner.
Director
Four short films based on ghost stories written by award winning modern Japanese writers.
Writer
Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.
Director
Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.
Writer
The lives of a young cop, a sanitation worker and a brooding pharmacist violently intersect on a bus that's hijacked by a suicidal political flunky, then cross paths again months later.
Director
The lives of a young cop, a sanitation worker and a brooding pharmacist violently intersect on a bus that's hijacked by a suicidal political flunky, then cross paths again months later.
Director
Hoping to catch a girl's attention, high school students Ken and Adama cook up an ambitious plan. They plan a festival that combines film, theater, and rock music, and develop their project into a school road block. This plan however catches the attention of television stations and newspapers, and soon even the cops became involved in this teenage adventure.
Writer
Three storylines interweave in Border Line. Kurosawa (Murakami Jun) finds himself driving a taciturn young man named Matsuda (Sawaki Tetsu) halfway to Hokkaido, after accidentally knocking him off his bike; their fragile bond can last only so long. The housewife Aikawa Misa (Aso Yumi) tries desperately to hold her family together when her husband gets laid off and her son is so frightened of bullies at school that he throws up in the car; she’s reduced to taking a McJob in a convenience store. And Miyaji (Mitsuishi Ken), who collects debts for a yakuza gang, gets into trouble when his partner Kitajima puts personal need above duty.
Director
Three storylines interweave in Border Line. Kurosawa (Murakami Jun) finds himself driving a taciturn young man named Matsuda (Sawaki Tetsu) halfway to Hokkaido, after accidentally knocking him off his bike; their fragile bond can last only so long. The housewife Aikawa Misa (Aso Yumi) tries desperately to hold her family together when her husband gets laid off and her son is so frightened of bullies at school that he throws up in the car; she’s reduced to taking a McJob in a convenience store. And Miyaji (Mitsuishi Ken), who collects debts for a yakuza gang, gets into trouble when his partner Kitajima puts personal need above duty.
Writer
Ao Chong is the first feature film directed by Lee Sang-Il about Korean high school students growing up in Japan.
Director
Ao Chong is the first feature film directed by Lee Sang-Il about Korean high school students growing up in Japan.