SAKKA is more than a streaming platform. We are here to support Japanese films and Japanese filmmakers of this generation, and all the generations that follow. That is why we are taking action, now.
This October 2023, we are launching a new initiative “Creator Tour” in partnership with a Tokyo-based production company ATMOVIE. This is our first step to bring Japanese emerging filmmakers to the global market, and to inspire a prolific and sustainable future of the Japanese film industry.
In each of these tours, we invite two Japanese filmmakers to the US where they are given opportunities to interact closely with local creators and industry professionals, and learn firsthand the global market from both the commercial and artistic perspectives. This year, the filmmakers will also participate in an event at the 43rd Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani, scheduled for October 12-22 in Honolulu, Hawai’i, where they will see how the Japanese filmmakers are seen and represented in the film community represented by international film festivals, and experience firsthand their potential in the overseas market.
The first two selected directors who are coming to the US this October are Yusaku Matsumoto and Akio Fujimoto. Matsumoto is one of the most sought-after young directors in Japan, having a versatile career directing short films, music videos, commercials, as well as TV episodes of Japanese local content for Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney+. His latest feature film “Winny” opened in the top 10 domestic box office earlier this year. “Winny” is also set to screen at the Hawai’i International Film Festival. Fujimoto has independently directed two feature films “Passage of Life” and “Along the Sea”, latter of which was invited to the San Sebastian International Film Festival and won Fujimoto the prestigious Kaneto Shindo Award and Nagisa Oshima Prize in Japan in 2021 (both a recognition for the most talented new director of the year).
Both directors, along with their films, are featured on SAKKA. For limited time, we are offering a special bundle of their films (available until October 26, 2023). Check out their films as they explore the world!
Read the full press release HERE.