Writer-Director Takanori Tsujimoto and Star Mitsuki Koga Headline Guest-Heavy Event at Montreal Fest Source: Fantasia International Film Festival press release Official Site: bushidoman.tumblr.com (Japan) Special Thanks to Marc Walkow and Ted Geoghegan
The Klockworx Co. Ltd. and Two Guns Film have announced that BUSHIDO MAN (??????), a brand-new action / comedy from dynamic Japanese filmmaker Takanori Tsujimoto, will make its North American Premiere at Montreal’s prestigious Fantasia International Film Festival on July 27th, following a successful release across Japan last month. The film is headlined by martial arts expert and action star Mitsuki Koga. Tsujimoto is best-known for his hard-hitting style of modern action filmmaking, featured in his pair of HARD REVENGE, MILLY films (2008-09), and in KILL and THE WOMEN OF FAST FOOD, two live-action, omnibus features made in collaboration with legendary animator Mamoru Oshii (GHOST IN THE SHELL, PATLABOR). The HARD REVENGE, MILLY films were licensed for North American distribution and released on DVD by the label Well Go USA. "It’s awesome to have the North American Premiere of BUSHIDO MAN,” says Fantasia Asian Programming Co-Director Nicolas Archambault. “We are very happy to be able to share such an entertaining film with our audience in the presence of an extremely talented cast and crew. This mix of martial arts -- portraying an impressive array of disciplines -- with weird science-fiction, mouth watering ‘Kung Food’ and both hilarious and smart philosophical questions can only be a winner at Fantasia. BUSHIDO MAN will rock the house!" BUSHIDO MAN stars martial arts expert Mitsuki Koga as Toramaru, a wandering student of bushi, the warrior’s code, who seeks to acquire seven secret scrolls of knowledge by defeating seven martial arts masters, each skilled in a different weapon. Along the way, Toramaru samples the local food of each of his opponents, following his master Gensai’s command to “know thy enemy by what he eats!” Seven invincible warriors. Seven deadly battles. Seven delicious meals. BUSHIDO MAN is the ultimate fusion of food and fisticuffs, and co-stars Miki Mizuno (HARD REVENGE, MILLY and Sion Sono’s GUILTY OF ROMANCE), Kentaro Shimazu (Noboru Iguchi’s THE MACHINE GIRL and DEAD SUSHI), Masanori Mimoto (ALIEN VS NINJA) and Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (Takashi Miike’s SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO and GOZU, FLOWER & SNAKE, BLACK ANGEL). The extensive action direction and fight choreography in BUSHIDO MAN is by veteran coordinator Kensuke Sonomura, whose deft stuntwork graces films such as DEATH TRANCE, THE MACHINE GIRL, ALIEN VS NINJA, US-Korean co-production THE WARRIOR`S WAY, GODZILLA: FINAL WARS and Donnie Yen’s FLASHPOINT. For writer / producer / director / editor Takanori Tsujimoto, BUSHIDO MAN was truly a labor of love. Begun as a completely independent project with Koga and Sonomura as partners, the film was financed from the start out of their own pockets, with fight scenes rehearsed and shot during breaks the trio had between other projects, and with a minimum of other crew members. This do-it-yourself aesthetic has always permeated Tsujimoto’s work, which began in 1998 when he was living in Osaka and producing low-budget, independent action films with other professional friends. After meeting anime giant Mamoru Oshii at a film competition, he began an association that continues to this day, and encompasses several live-action short films Tsujimoto contributed to three Oshii anthologies. Tsujimoto has since relocated to Tokyo, and made his own feature debut with the pair of HARD REVENGE, MILLY films, following them up in 2011 with action / horror RED TEARS, starring 1980’s Hong Kong cinema superstar Yasuaki Kurata, which premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival. BUSHIDO MAN soon followed, making its World Premiere at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan in February of 2013. Tsujimoto has also contributed work as an editor and CGI artist to films by well-known Japanese genre directors such as Noboru Iguchi, Yudai Yamaguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura, all part of the Sushi Typhoon collective.
A disciple of karate, boxing and Muay Thai, Japanese actor and martial artist Mitsuki Koga has led a career in film and television that mixes leading roles in independently-made martial arts action films with significant cameo appearances in international blockbusters. His starring role in arthouse drama BLOODY SNAKE UNDER THE SUN, set and shot in Okinawa, also established his abilities as a dramatic actor. Making his major film debut as Mechagodzilla Operator Kyosuke Akiba in 2003’s GODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S., Koga has also appeared in CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL: THE MOVIE for director Yudai Yamaguchi, the all-star ninja film SHINOBI: HEART UNDER BLADE, spy movie THE CODE, the big-budget blind swordsman remake ICHI, the massive comic book boxing adaptation TOMORROW`S JOE, EVIL NINJA and PING-PONG. He has also acted in over two dozen TV dramas (including several Ultraman series), appeared in commercials and music videos, and worked on US-produced, Japan-shot films like THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT and THE LAST SAMURAI. Koga previously collaborated with director Tsujimoto on HARD REVENGE, MILLY, playing the villainous “Jack,” and returned for a cameo in the sequel, BLOODY BATTLEe. Writer / director Takanori Tsujimoto, star Mitsuki Koga, action director Kensuke Sonomura, and other members of the cast and crew will attend Fantasia’s North American Premiere of BUSHIDO MAN.
ABOUT THE KLOCKWORX
THE KLOCKWORX Co. Ltd. was founded in 1997 and is based in Tokyo, Japan. The company produces, distributes, invests in and exhibits high quality live-action and animation product for the Japanese market, such as After School, The Key of Life, Summer’s End and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. They also conduct overseas sales and have committed themselves to offering content that has a high international value.
ABOUT THE FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Since its inception in 1996, the Fantasia International Film Festival is now recognized as the biggest and most important event of its kind in North America, a leader on the genre film scene and one of the country’s most popular film festivals. With a varied programming and an emphasis on the imaginative cinema of Asia, Europe and the Americas, Fantasia’s offerings range from unique and powerful personal visions to international commercial crowd-pleasers rarely seen in North America.