Shinzo Katayama
［Film Director］

Shinzo Katayama was born in Osaka. After working as an Assistant Director for Bong Joon-Ho and Nobuhiro Yamashita, he won multiple awards in various film festivals with his first feature “Siblings of the Cape” (2018). He made his commercial debut with “Missing” (2022) which won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award. His recent work, “Lust in the Rain” (2024), was shot in collaboration with Taiwan. He also worked as the lead director for the Disney+ series “Gannibal” (2022) which was a hit across Asia including the latest Season 2. The Netflix series “The Human Vapor”, which he worked on as the director alongside Yeon Sang-ho as showrunner and writer, is set for release soon.

Satoko Yokohama
［Film Director］

Satoko Yokohama was born in Aomori. Her independent film “German plus Rain” (2006) was screened nationwide in theaters and won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award. Her first commercial film, “Bare Essence of Life” (2009), was also highly received in international film festivals abroad. “ITO” (2021) won both the Audience Award and the Grand Prix at the 16th Osaka Asian Film Festival. “Seaside Serendipity”, currently in theaters, officially competed at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival and won a Special Mention in the Generation Kplus Category.

Atsushi Sasaki
［Film Critic］

Critic Astushi Sasaki is the chair of music label HEADZ and co-owner of multi-purpose space SCOOL. He is the senior lecturer of Language Expressional Course “Kotoba no Gakkou”, Film School of Tokyo, as well as the President of Critic Gips Sigma. He is also a lecturer at Waseda University and Rikkyo University. He has been active across multiple fields in arts and culture. His works as a film critic include “Eiga yo Sayounara”, “Kono Eiga wo Miteiru noha Dareka?”, “Godard Genron”. He has published “Made in Japan” and “‘Kaku Koto’ no Tetsugaku” in 2025.

Andrea Meneghelli
［Cineteca di Bologna］

Mr. Andrea Meneghelli is Curator of the Film Collections at Cineteca di Bologna (Italy). As Cineteca di Bologna’s employee since 2001, his work covers conservation, cataloging, digitization, restoration, collection enhancement through new acquisitions. Mr. Meneghelli edited DVD collections devoted to Italian documentary in the silent era and Italian ethnographic documentary. He’s author of several essays and articles on film history published on books, magazines, and periodicals. He is also member of the advisory board of the film festival “Il Cinema Ritrovato” in Bologna.

Junichi Yasuda
［Film Director］

Junichi Yasuda, born in Kyoto, made his directorial debut with independent film “Kenju to Medamayaki” (2014). His second film “Gohan” (2017), which depicted the reality and issues of rice farming, was screened in theaters for 38 consecutive months. His 2024 work, “A Samurai in Time”, became an extraordinary hit where the number of domestic theaters showing the film grew from one to 300+ by word of mouth. The film won Best Film at the 48th Japan Academy Awards. Until today, he continues to work as both a rice farmer and a filmmaker.

Koji Tamura
［Actor］

Koji Tamura is an actor and a grandson of Tsumasaburo Bando. His works include stage play “Ooku: Dai Isshou”, drama series “Ooka Echizen”, “Mito Komon”, “Kodsure Shinbe” and more. He also produces events to celebrate the coming centenary of Uzumasa movie studios, including narrated silent movie screenings at Uzumasa Edo Sakaba.

Ichiro Kataoka
［Live Narrator］

Ichiro Kataoka became an apprentice of Midori Sawato in 2002. He has worked on approximately 400 films and has performed both domestically and internationally, counting 24 countries. He has appeared in films and shows such as “Yasuko, Songs of Days Past”（2025）,drama “Idaten: Tokyo Orinpikku-banashi”, and “Boogie Woogie”. He has acted in the film “Katsuben!” （2019）while also working on skill training and historical background research. Kataoka published his book “Katsudo Shashin Benshi” in 2020. He has strived for film conservation and has discovered lost films such as “Chushingura” and “Our Pet”. Additionally, he has worked as a narrator on commercials for Sushiro and Kewpie.

Mika Shigemori
［Traditional Japanese Music Performer］

Mika Shigemori, who inherited the stage name Shiga Shinuchi from her master, works on keeping classical Japanese music alive, alongside creating new pieces with original scripts and music. She also works under her real name, teaching and playing Japanese music for numerous films, shows, and stage plays, participating in works of modern art, and teaching in universities. She won the 2014 Music Award at the ACA National Arts Festival as well as the 2024 Kyoto City Arts Promotion Award.

Hiroko Takimoto
［Shinobue Flute & Japanese Drum Performer］

Hiroko Takimoto was born in Kyoto. She has been working on sessions involving wadaiko (Japanese drums), pursuing upbeat grooviness and glittering sounds of flutes and percussions. These efforts of hers have also led to collaborations with various genres of music and arts. While working as a solo artist, she also belongs to percussion unit Shikisai Dagaku Uchinahare, Japanese music unit Yashome, and Japanese instrumental trio Amane.

Kyoko Yamakuni
［Researcher in Philippine Cinema］

Kyoto Yamakuni was born in Hyogo Prefecture. She graduated with a major in Filipino language from the School of Foreign Studies, University of Osaka, and then completed her master’s degree with a major in Cultural Morphology at the Graduate School of Letters, the University of Osaka. After working in publishing, she became a freelancer working in various fields such as editing, writing, designing, and PR, including curating international films for the Kyoto HISTORICA International Film Festival. She has been a Specially Appointed Researcher at Kaitokudo for the 21st Century, University of Osaka, since 2025. Since her postgraduate years, she has been studying as well as directly involved in producing Filipino independent films. As a researcher, she majors in Filipino popular culture with a special focus on independent films.

Shinji Higuchi
［Film Director］

Shinji Higuchi is a film director, SFX director, filmmaker, and a book designer. He was born in 1965 in Tokyo. He has worked on various genres from SFX shows to live-action films and is known for big hits such as “Attack on Titan” (2015) and “Shin Godzilla” (2016). His latest Netflix film “Bullet Train Explosion” (2025) became a hot topic.
As a film director, an SFX director, and a member of diverse projects such as the anime series “Neon Genesis Evangelion”, he works beyond established genres and fields, sending out Japanese contents to the world, He has also been a member of the jidaigeki scene and has shot films in Kyoto such as “Sakuya: Slayer of Demons” (2000, SFX director) and “The Floating Castle” (2012, Co-Director).