Rotterdam and Sento

[Stephen Cremin]

I don't think it's so much the Sento connection here.  Wasn't Simon Field,
Rotterdam director, on the jury in Vancouver when THIS WINDOW IS YOURS won? 
I'm not saying anything is underhand here - because I'm the biggest fan of
Furumaya's earlier work - but there is of course a small group of filmmakers
that have things pretty well stitched up on the Vancouver, Pusan, Rotterdam
route: Jia Zhangke, Fruit Chan, Nelson YU, Hong Sang-soo, etc.  And Kumakiri
and Furumaya would fit perfectly into that category.  I think much of it has
to do with the names that are pulled out of the hat for jury service at
these fests.  Always the same people.  Well, if anyone has any doubts I'm
always happy to bet money on who gets the prize money each year in Pusan. 
But I warn you, I've got a strong track record on that one.

Stephen

----------
>From: Aaron Gerow <gerow at ynu.ac.jp>
>To: "KineJapan" <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
>Subject: Rotterdam and Sento
>Date: Mon, 5 Feb 01 14:49:25 +0900
>

>I got a fax at 6am Sunday morning (what the heck were they thinking?) 
>informing me that Furumaya Tomoyuki's Bad Company (Mabudachi) won the 
>Tiger Award and the FIPRESCI Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival.  The 
>FIPRESCI jury also gave a special mention to Kumakiri Kazuyoshi's A Hole 
>in the Sky (Sora no ana).
>
>Bad Company marks yet another of producer Sento Takenori's successes in 
>the film festival circuit (after Suzaku, M/Other, Eureka, Hotaru, etc.), 
>so I'm beginning to wonder what's going on here. Why is Sento so 
>successful at festivals--and especially with FIPRESCI juries?  Surely it 
>must partially have to do with his talent at producing good films, but 
>one wonders if there's something else involved.  I'm not implying 
>anything under the board.  Just what are the factors contributing to this 
>festival success?  Any speculations?
>
>Aaron Gerow
>Associate Professor
>International Student Center
>Yokohama National University
>79-1 Tokiwadai
>Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501
>JAPAN
>E-mail: gerow at ynu.ac.jp
>Phone: 81-45-339-3170
>Fax: 81-45-339-3171
>