Director Masaaki Tezuka speaks to the audience at a special event in Koenji, Tokyo. Photo by Brett Homenick.
On October 24, I was invited to join a special event in Koenji, Tokyo, highlighting some famous unmade films in movie history. The event ran for almost four hours, and most of the films discussed were American or European. However, some unmade kaiju films were discussed, and some rare screenplays for some of these movies were on display. It was a treat to see them in person.
The guest of honor was director Masaaki Tezuka, who directed
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000),
Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002), and
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003). Among other titles, he served as assistant director on
Virus, (1980),
Princess from the Moon (1987),
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), and the last two entries in the
Rebirth of Mothra trilogy.
Yoshikazu Ishii promotes his new film Sakurabana at the event. Photo by Brett Homenick.
Yoshikazu Ishii was also on hand, and many Godzilla fans are quite familiar with his credits. He was chief assistant special effects director on
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) and served in a similar position on
Ultraman Saga (2012). Ishii-san promoted his latest film project,
Sakurabana. The official site can be found
here.
Yours truly posing with Toho power player Yoshikazu Ishii after the event wrapped.
When the event finished, my friend Yasushi and I were invited by the organizers to join a special dinner with Tezuka-san. I sat next to Tezuka-san for the meal, and I enjoyed spending the evening with him.
It had been quite a weekend up to this point, but even after all of this, it was far from over!
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