Director Gakuryu Ishii’s Latest Film “Jibei Kakumei Eiga Tousou” to Premiere at Motomachi Cinema in Kobe

　Director Gakuryu Ishii’s latest film, “Jibei Kakumei Eiga Tousou” will premiere on March 18 at Motomachi Eiga Theater (4 Motomachi Dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe; tel 078-366-2636 ), a mini-theater in Kobe’s Motomachi Shopping Arcade 4-chome.

Director Gakuryu Ishii

　Born in Fukuoka City in 1957, Mr. Ishii entered the film department of Nihon University College of Art in 1976. He first gained attention with his debut 8mm film “High School Panic,” and in 1980 his feature film “Crazy Thunder Road” was released in theaters. He has worked on various films and music videos.

　Since 2006, he has been a professor at the Department of Visual Expression, Faculty of Art and Design, Kobe Design University, and in January 2010 changed his name from Sogo Ishii to Gakuryu Ishii. 17 years of teaching in Kobe, he has produced films with his students and conducted creative film research activities using a variety of expressions. He retired from the university in March of this year. He will retire from the university in March this year.

　The film is the culmination of the university’s film production and research activities, and was made with students, alumni, faculty members, and other related parties. The film was shot at the city’s Belt Conveyor Tunnel and the Gakuen Toshi Municipal Subway Station, among other locations.

　The film will be first shown in Kobe prior to Tokyo. A project to support the success and expansion of the film’s release has been launched, and crowdfunding is underway until the 13th of this month.

　The theater will be showing five of Mr. Ishii’s films daily from 4:50 p.m. until the 24th as part of the special program “Ishii Sohkoh Kaitai Shinsho (A New Book of Dissection). Pal Cinema Shinkoen, a movie theater in Shinkaichi, plans an all-night project starting at 11:30 p.m. on the 18th.

　Mirai Takahashi of Motomachi Cinema said, “Director Gakuryu Ishii’s new film, his first in five years, will thankfully be shown in advance at our theater. To coincide with this, we will be rolling out a variety of projects in Kobe, including special features on films from the Sohkoh Ishii era, all-night screenings, and talk events,” he said.

　Screening times and prices will be posted on the website.