PRESS CONFERENCE: KIYOSHI KUROSAWA
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the new master of fantastic cinema gave a press conference on Monday, November 22nd. Despite his long career in the field, Kurosawa is rather unknown in Greece and that is the reason for the Festival’s small tribute comprised of six of his films. It’s worth mentioning that producers from the USA have shown interest for his film Kairo, which was screened in Thessaloniki. “Every year we try to introduce unknown significant personas of modern cinema to the audience of Thessaloniki. Kurosawa is one of them”, said the Director of the Festival, Michel Demopoulos, adding that Kurosawa’s films attract large audiences.
Mr. Kurosawa claimed being delighted with his visit Greece and the Festival. “It’s my first time in Greece and I’m very happy. I didn’t expect to find people who would be asking me about my films”, said Mr. Kurosawa when asked about his new film Ghost Cop which hasn’t been released in Japan yet.
Difficulties in Japan
Mr. Kurosawa spoke about the intricacies of his work and the particular situation in Japan. As he said, his films are rather unknown in Japan. He believes that the internalization of Japanese fantastic cinema will help directors of the kind. “When Europeans become interested in Japanese fantastic cinema, Japanese producers will more easily provide financial assistance for new productions”, he said. Kurosawa also mentioned that his films have an audience in France, China and now, Thessaloniki, something not true about his country where his films are screened in small cinemas. He is hopeful that the international interest will spread to his homeland.
Fantastic cinema and Angelopoulos
Kiyoshi Kurosawa also spoke about the types of cinema he follows. “I’m not a horror film director. I’ve tried various types of cinema and I would like to try even more in the future. I like the fact that horror films are popular, I’ve been watching them since I was a kid, but I’m beginning to feel depleted. Considering the thousands of issues in the world, my interest for horror filmmaking is declining”, he said. As a matter of fact, his new film is a love story. Finally, Mr. Kurosawa said that he tries to watch as many European films as he can and admitted that he is most influenced by Theo Angelopoulos.
