Japanese director Naomi Kawase accused of assaulting employees

Japanese director Naomi Kawase accused of assaulting employees

Japanese writer and skin favorite Naomi Kawase has been accused of violent behavior towards her staff and staff, including assault, which resulted in an employee’s face swelling.

On set in May 2019 real mothersThe assistant director touched Kawase to indicate that there was a filming problem. Although there was no indication that the contact was inappropriate, Kawase yelled “What do you think you’re doing?” With assistant direction and kick in the abdomen.

After the incident, the entire film crew, led by Utah Tsukinaga, filmed. Following the Tokyo-based weekly magazine and the first factory Shukan Bunshun Following the news, Kawase said on his company’s website that the problem had been resolved nationwide.

However, the magazine later wrote about the incident in October 2015, when Kawase attacked an employee of an employee at the office of his production company Kumie in Nara. The award-winning director hit an employee, knocking him to the floor and continuing to beat him, while other employees fled the office in fear.

When the team returned, the victim’s face was visibly swollen. An employee who resigned immediately confirmed Shukan Bunshun That the attack took place, but said he didn’t want to publicly comment on it.

Allegations of sexual harassment of actors by directors have also affected the Japanese film industry.

Kawase was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in November, telling a news conference in Paris, “I think my role is to illuminate the unsaid people around the world and express them on the world stage.”

Friday, Kawasaki Tokyo 2020 match AThe official film of last year’s Tokyo Summer Olympics, which opened in Japan with little fanfare, no public appearance by the director and low ticket sales.

It is unclear whether the controversy surrounding Kawase has affected public enthusiasm. There was great ambivalence in Japanese society towards the Summer Games, which were held amid a coronavirus pandemic, although feelings were strained as the host country won the medal round and no major clusters of infections emerged.

On Friday night, the film was ranked 13th in sales with just 2,716 tickets sold, topping the charts with over 60,000. Top Gun: Maverick The second weekend.

Ticket sales surged on Saturday, but the two-hour documentary, which premiered in Cannes to some rave reviews, failed to break into the weekend’s top 10.

suzuki In 1997, he won the Golden Camera Award for Best New Director at Cannes, bringing him to the international stage. 10 years later he won the Grand Prix mourning forestAnd since then he has been part of the jury and has shown other films that compete at the festival.

Kawase’s New Documentary Almost Suffered Compared To Kon Ichikawa Tokyo OlympicsAn ambitious and important chronicle of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which held the record for 23.5 million Japanese films until it was broken 35 years later by Hayao Miyazaki. inspiring.

While Ichikawa’s film was far more artistic than organizers had expected, the mood for these games in Tokyo was high as Japan returned to the world stage after the post-World War II devastation, a stark contrast to the spectatorless events of the year. past. Scandals, cost overruns and coronavirus concerns.

The second part of Kawase’s Olympic film, Tokyo 2020 Party B, The focus will be on non-athlete events, including the Endurance Games, which will launch next year.

THR He has reached out to Kawase’s office for comment on the attack reports and lack of commercials for his new film, but has received no response at the time of writing.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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