Brother

[Aaron Gerow]

The official press conference announcing the production of Kitano 
Takashi's new film _Brother_, a Japan-England co-production, took place 
on the 16th.  Some of the cast members also appeared, including Maki 
Kuroudo, Kato Masaya, Osugi Ren, Terajima Susumu, and Ishibashi Ryo. In a 
surprise, it was announced that Watari Tetsuya will also appear in the 
film as a gang boss (in only one scene).  Omar Epps, who has appeared in 
Major League 2, will appear as the black gang member who befriends the 
yakuza (played by Takeshi) visiting Los Angeles to find his brother 
(played by Maki).

Filming will begin this month on the 21st in Tokyo and move to LA on the 
2nd of January.

Office Kitano also announced that, in conjunction with Bandai Visual, 
they will begin funding films by Asian directors, the first being a film 
by the Iranian director, Abolfazl Jalili.

Aaron Gerow
Yokohama National University
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