The influence of the Japanese enfant terrible Sogo Ishii (Fukuoka, 1957°) on the development of contemporary Japanese Cinema is incontestable. In the late 70ties, he was the first to make the move from underground amateur filmmaking to the professional industry, paving the way for followers as diverse as Shinya Tsukamoto, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Makoto Shinozaki.… Continue reading Sogo Ishii
Type_Guest: Retrospective
Enki Bilal
Enki Bilal was born in Belgrade, Yougoslavia, in 1951. He left his native city at the age of 9 and went to Paris. There he developed a passion for comic books. Meanwhile, he has not only become the author of contemporary classics like Gods in Cheops, The Town That Didn’t Exist and Outer States. Bilan… Continue reading Enki Bilal
Jean Rollin
Born in 1938, Jean Rollin made his full-length feature debut in 1968 with the stunning Le viol du vampire, which caused a riot in Paris. This was the first in a series of erotic vampire movies, which combine pulp imagery with the plot mechanics of serials. His movies tell conventional horror stories in the most… Continue reading Jean Rollin
Lina Romay
Born in Barcelona in 1954 as Rosa Maria Almirall, the young Lina Romay joined an amateur theatre group. During a performance, she was spotted by a mesmerized Jess Franco who greeted her backstage and offered her a small part in his next film. In the young and stunning Lina Romay, Franco soon found a leading… Continue reading Lina Romay
François Schuiten
François who ? You really don’t know who François Schuiten is ; THE very very famous Belgian comic-strip artist, renowned for, among others, the Cities of the Fantastic series. After debuting in Metal Hurlant magazine, a true talent pool of contemporary comics, François Schuiten has drawn together an impressive body of work which has allowed… Continue reading François Schuiten
Lloyd Kaufman
In 1971, Kaufman met his future partner Michael Herz at Yale. The Troma Universe was born in 1974 with a series of highly original, raunchy comedies. These movies, independent precursors to such later smash hits as National Lampoon’s Animal House and Porky’s, did well financially, although Kaufman continued to work on such outside productions as… Continue reading Lloyd Kaufman