ISN`T ANYONE ALIVE? Press Notes

: 11 August 2013

Source: Phantom Film Co. Ltd. Official Movie Site: ikiteru.jp (Japan), thirdwindowfilms.com/isnt-anyone-alive (UK) Additional Material: Nippon Connection, Third Window Films

From Gakuryu Ishii (a.k.a. Sogo Ishii), the director of ELECTRIC DRAGON 80000V and LABYRINTH OF DREAMS, comes ISN`T ANYONE ALIVE? (????????????, Ikiteru mono inai noka, 2012), his first feature film in 10 years! Starring award winning sensational newcomer Shota Sometani from HIMIZU! Urban Myth becomes reality... Will the World End? Story When people talk about bizarre urban myth at the University hospital, people are dying inexplicably one after the other... With the air of “Energy Void” throughout, this is dark comedy based on the theater of the absurd ISN`T ANYONE ALIVE? by an award winning playwright Shiro Maeda. About the Film With internationally acclaimed films such as CRAZY THUNDER ROAD (???????????, Kuruizaki Sanda Rodo, 1980), BURST CITY (????, Bakuretsu Toshi, 1982), THE CRAZY FAMILY (?????, Gyakufunsha Kazoku, 1984), ELECTRIC DRAGON 80000V (???????·???? 80000V, 2001), Gakuryu Ishii -- previously known as Sogo Ishii -- has been amusing us with his talent of totally overstepping genre boundaries with striking images and punk music. In his new feature film, he chose to adapt the theater play by award-winning playwright Shiro Maeda. In this avant-garde story of 18 young students dying one after another, Ishii reflects onto the screen the “way of one’s death” for each student, which are all constructed by precise punkish dialogue and absurd laughs. Is this a world of punk or just a world of jokes? With "It-boy" Shota Sometani (who won Marcello Mastroianni Award at Venice Film Festival for Shion Sono’s HIMIZU) as the lead, Ishii’s spectacular new film is ready to leap to a worldwide audience.

Gakuryu Ishii (Director) Born in 1957 in Fukuoka, Japan. Soon after entering university, Ishii made his first 8 mm film PANIC IN HIGH SCHOOL (???????, Kookoo Dai Panikku, 1976) followed by CRAZY THUNDER ROAD and BURST CITY. He quickly gained an enthusiastic fan following and was regarded as a pathfinder for a Japanese New Wave. In 1984, Ishii directed his most widely-acclaimed movie to that point, THE CRAZY FAMILY which received the Grand Prix at the Saruso Film Festival in Italy. Ishii’s action style of original avant-gardism has been highly valued in and out of Japan with projects such the Birmingham Film Festival Gran Prix ANGEL DUST (?????????, Enjeru Dasuto, 1994), AUGUST IN THE WATER (??????, Sui no Naka no Hachigatsu, 1995) and Oslo Film Festival Grand Prix LABYRINTH OF DREAMS (?????, Yume no Ginga, 1996). In such films as the Japanese masterpiece period drama GOJOE (?????, Gojo Reisenki: Gojoe, 2000) and ELECTRIC DRAGON 80000V, Ishii attracted a wide audience with a “genre-less” innovative new world with striking images of high speed visuals. Ishii also teaches at Kobe Design University where he continues to explore the "new creation" with students. Shiro Maeda (Playwright) Born in 1977 in Tokyo. Maeda formed the Gotandadan theater company in 1997 at the age of nineteen. The charm of his work lies in its naturally laid-back and amusing humor within a theatrical space. After countless nominations, he won the 52nd (2008) Kishida Drama Award* in this play ISN`T ANYONE ALIVE?. His plays are known for their surreal edges and also their gentle humor. * The Kishida Drama Award is the most famous annual prize for drama in Japan, named after the world famous theater playwright Kunio Kishida. This annual award has been run since 1955 by the national prestigious publisher Hakusui Publishing.

Credits Japanese Release Date: February 18, 2012 Running Time: 113 Minutes Cast Keisuke: Shota Sometani Ryoko: Rin Takanashi Kaori: Hakka Shiraishi Katsufumi: Asato Iida Nana: Mai Takahashi Enari: Yumika Tajima Eiko: Ami Ikenaga Andore: Kota Fudauchi Matsuchi: Keisuke Hasebe Katsuo: Hiroaki Morooka Shoji: Tatsuya Hasome Maki: Eri Aoki Miki: Konatsu Tanaka Koyuichi: Kiyohiko Shibukawa Doctor Sakana: Shoshiro Tsuda Naitoyu: Tateto Serizawa Sachie: Chizuko Sugiura Yama: Jun Murakami Staff Director and Adaptation: Gakuryu Ishii Based on the story by & Screenplay by: Shiro Maeda Producer: Hironobu Osaki Director of Photography? Yoshiyuki Matsumoto Production Design: Toshihiro Isomi Editing: Gakuryu Ishii, Takahiko Takeda Music: Haru Ishii Main Theme Guitar Played by: Hisako Tabuchi Festivals Edinburgh International Film Festival Stockholm International Film Festival Neuchatel International Fantastic Festival Fantasia International Film Festival Kaohsiung International Film Festival Japan Cuts 2012 Production: Dragon Mountain, LLC. Distributor: Phantom Film Co. Ltd. World Sales: Phantom Film Co. Ltd. © Dragon Mountain LLC.

For more information on ISN`T ANYONE ALIVE?, please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan:

Source: Phantom Film Co. Ltd. Official Movie Site: ikiteru.jp (Japan), thirdwindowfilms.com/isnt-anyone-alive (UK) Additional Material: Nippon Connection, Third Window Films