Not forgotten Q&A Session Greetings from the cast and the director

The eagerly awaited new work by Makoto Shinozaki since the success of his directorial debut in 1996 with Okaeri is at last being shown at the FILMeX 2000. The theatre was filled with a typically film festival-like excitement and heat of the audience who saw the film's premiere in Japan. Akiko Kazami, Tomio Aoki, and Makoto Shinozaki aligned on the stage. Kazami, like the great actress that she is dressed in a lustrous kimono of reduced tone, Commented on her prize of best actress at the Festival of Three Continents in Nantes, France, and thanked Shinozaki, "I received such a big prize even though my role was rather a supportive one. This prize was the most honorable experience in my acting career. It was made possible solely by the director Shinozaki." Aoki who also received the leading actor prize along with Tatsya Mihashi and Minoru Ooki, entertained the audience by introducing the episode in which he received a kiss from a French actress when he was awarded the prize. "A film is the participants ' collaboration. The Shinozaki clan was truly wonderful" said Aoki and sent a banzai cheer to the director. Lastly, Shinozaki said that he was developing this story since his teenage years and thanked to all those who helped to make it a reality, "It is the audience's imagination which ultimately completed this film." Director's Profile: Born in Tokyo in 1963. Worked as a projectionist at several Tokyo cinemas and wrote about film. After making a number of 8mm films, made his feature debut in 1996 with Okaeri, which garnered awards including Best New Director at the Berlinale and brought him international attention. In 1999, completed Jam Session: Official Bootleg of Kikujiro, a documentary on the making of director Takeshi Kitano's Kikujiro. Jam Session has been screened at film festivals around the world from Locarno to Toronto, Vancouver and Pusan.