Yoko KUNO 久野遥子
Nobuhiro YAMASHITA 山下敦弘
Lucky Owl With Shimako
Nippon Visions ½
About Yoko KUNO
久野遥子
Yoko KUNO, born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1990, created her first animated short films, which received multiple awards, while studying at Tama Art University. After her graduation, she worked as a rotoscope animation director for Shunji IWAI’s THE CASE OF HANA AND ALICE (2015 / NC ‘16). She also worked on the animation for several films of the CRAYON-SHIN-CHAN series and in 2020 co-directed the animated short LUCKY OWL WITH SHIMAKO (NC ‘21) alongside Nobuhiro YAMASHITA. GHOST CAT ANZU (2024 / NC ‘25) is her first feature-length animated film as director.
About Nobuhiro YAMASHITA
山下敦弘
Nobuhiro YAMASHITA, born in Aichi Prefecture in 1976, studied at Osaka University of Arts and started his career at Planet Studyo +1 in Osaka. His feature film debut HAZY LIFE (1999) was an international success and was screened in 2000 at the first Nippon Connection Film Festival. He had his commercial breakthrough with the comedy LINDA LINDA LINDA (2005 / NC ’08). Establishing his distinctive style with his subsequent works, including A GENTLE BREEZE IN THE VILLAGE (2007 / NC ’07), TAMAKO IN MORATORIUM (2013 / NC ’14), and OVER THE FENCE (2016 / NC ’17), YAMASHITA has become one of the major protagonists of the Japanese film industry. His comedy LET’S GO KARAOKE! (2024) received the 2024 NIPPON CINEMA AWARD.