We warmly invite you to the first of the Yale Club of Japan Speaker Series. Inspired by the College Tea at Yale, these events will feature a guest speaker – a leader in her or his field – who will commence the evening with a few prepared remarks, after which we will continue the discussion over dinner in a private setting.
For our kick-off event, on 23 April at 19:00, we are especially excited to welcome the award-winning documentary filmmaker Ema Ryan Yamazaki. Born in Kobe, and raised by a Japanese mother and British father, Ema tells evocative, complex stories about Japanese identity. Her many acclaimed works include:
● THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE (director & editor / 2023) – Ema’s latest feature that made its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2023 – intimately follows 1st and 6th graders for one year, observing children as they learn the traits seen as necessary to become a member of Japanese society. New York Times Op-Docs version of the project, titled INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART, was nominated for Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.
● BLACK BOX DIARIES (editor / 2024) chronicles 25-year-old journalist Shiori Ito's courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in 2015 and attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender.
● KOSHIEN: JAPAN'S FIELD OF DREAMS (director & editor / 2019) captures the phenomenon of high school baseball as a microcosm of Japanese society. Featuring Shohei Ohtani's Alma Mater on the occasion of the historic 100th summer tournament, the film follows 2 teams on their request to reach the sacred grounds of Koshien.
Ema will also be attending with her partner Eric Nyari, an accomplished filmmaker in his own right. Based in Tokyo and New York, Eric is a two-time Oscar and BAFTA nominated film producer. As President of Cineric Creative and International Representative for renowned film restoration house Cineric, Inc, he is active across narrative, documentary, and 4k restoration projects. He has produced numerous films in Japan, including as director of Amir Naderi's CUT, which was the Opening Film of the 2011 Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti section, and the critically acclaimed portrait documentary RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA (Venice 2017).
Eric was also the producer of both INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART and BLACK BOX DIARIES. When both of these films were nominated for Oscars earlier this year, this made him the first filmmaker in over 30 years to be nominated in both the feature and short documentary categories.
In short: this promises to be a highly engaging evening, full of lively discussion about filmmaking, Japanese society and the intricacies of identity. So we do hope you will join us!
Event details:
Date: Wednesday, 23 April
Time: 19:00-21:30
Venue: Dynamic Kitchen & Bar Hibiki Futei Akasaka
Guests will be limited to 20.
