Kazuaki Kiriya
Directing
Biography
Kazuaki Kiriya, born April 20, 1968, is a Japanese photographer and director of films and music videos. In 1983, in his second year of junior high school, he moved to the United States. He attended Northfield Mount Hermon School and the Cambridge School in Weston, Massachusetts and then the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School for Design in New York. At first, as a student, he aimed to enter the business world, but through the experience of seeing others' pleasure when he communicated through drawing at times when his English failed him, he came to be more oriented toward the world of art. Beginning in 1994, he became involved in designing album covers, photography, and directing music videos for many recording artists including Hikaru Utada, SMAP, The Back Horn, Mr. Children, Misia, Southern All Stars, Glay, and Ayumi Hamasaki. Kiriya made his feature film debut in 2004, writing and directing the ambitious live action film adaptation of Casshan. The film was among the first to be shot on a digital backlot. In 2009, he wrote and directed his second film, Goemon (a fantasy epic based on the life of Ishikawa Goemon), in which he also appeared in a cameo as Akechi Mitsuhide. In 2015, Kiriya directed his first English-language film, Last Knights, a reimagining of the legend of the forty-seven ronin.
Known For
When an evil emperor executes their leader, his band of knights – bound by duty and honour – embarks on a journey of vengeance that will not come to an end until they've destroyed their mortal foe.
Last Knights
Fifty years of war between the Great Eastern Federation and Europa - now merged as Eurasia - have taken their toll on planet Earth. As a result of the use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, much of Earth has become uninhabitable and people have become prey to new diseases. Professor Azuma's "neo-cell" project, which is supposed to be the answer to mankind's hardships, becomes a nightmare come true when mutants spawned from the experiment escape and declare war on the human race. Azuma's son Tetsuya, who was killed during the previous war, is reborn into the cyborg Casshern as mankind's last hope against the new mutant threat. This live-action sci-fi movie based on a 1973 Japanese animé of the same name.
Casshern
Follow the infamous ninja bandit named Ishikawa Goemon (Yosuke Eguchi) in an epic story. One night while looting treasure from Nanban (Southern Barbarians), Goemon finds a mysterious box hidden inside a secret grave. A forgotten relic from the past containing untold powers.
Goemon
Hana is a normal high school student, unsatisfied in her daily life. One day she had a dream and met a 10-year-old girl living in Sengoku Era. The girl lives hard with poverty and misfortune in that world and the two are going to have a sisterhood friendship. When Hana wakes up, she is taken away by the government special agency and subject to severe scrutiny about her dream. There is something called Akashic Record and the destinies of all humans follow that record. And the future record of all mankind is gone in a month. The key to solving the problem is the girl who appeared in Hana's dream.
From the End of the World
A short film by Kazuaki Kiriya.
The Little Star
J-pop princess Utada Hikaru hasn't held a live tour for ages. However all of that changed with the launch of her nation-wide Utada United 2006 tour. Recorded live with high-vision technology during her gig at the Saitama Super Arena, the atmosphere, the excitement, and 21 of Utada's tracks are now available for home viewing. Featuring her Oricon No. 1 hits Colors, Hikaru, and Sakura Drops plus many other favorites, Hikki addiction is guaranteed from beginning to end with this power-packed DVD release. (© 2006-2011 YesAsia.com Ltd)
Utada United 2006
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