Rotterdam and Sento

[Aaron Gerow]

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