Gregory Hatanaka
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Gregory Hatanaka | |
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| Occupation(s) | Film distributor, director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor |
Gregory Hatanaka is an independent filmmaker and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Career
Hatanaka is the founder of film distribution and production company Cinema Epoch.
Hatanaka first began in film distribution working for Headliner Productions on the re-release of films by cult director Edward D. Wood, Jr.[1] He founded Phaedra Cinema to distribute international films in the U.S. With a specialization in cult films, Phaedra released such films as Toshimichi Ohkawa's Nobody, Cha Chuen Lee's Triad Story and Jimmy Wang Yu's Master of the Flying Guillotine (1975) and Toshiharu Ikeda's Evil Dead Trap. Explaining this interest in Asian cult cinema, Hatanaka explained, "I grew up going to the drive-ins, watching Sonny Chiba movies-- I've always had a passion for that."[2]
In 1998 Phaedra films released the two Nikkatsu Roman porno films, Masaru Konuma's Wife to be Sacrificed (1974) and Noboru Tanaka's A Woman Called Sada Abe (1975) on a theatrical double-bill. The films premiered in San Francisco in June, opening to very favorable reviews.[3] Beginning October 30, 1998 and then played for a week at the Monica 4-Plex theater in Los Angeles.[4]
His directing credits include Until the Night and the award-winning cult film Mad Cowgirl. During this time, he collaborated with the noted distribution company Circle Releasing on the release of the John Woo cult film The Killer under the guidance of crime novelist George Pelecanos.[5] His subsequent films are Violent Blue and Blue Dream.
He has distributed the works of a wide variety of internationally renowned filmmakers and directors, including Satyajit Ray, Claude Chabrol, and Leni Riefenstahl, and films with such actors as Catherine Deneuve, Ewan McGregor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Isabelle Huppert,and Gérard Depardieu.
Filmography
As director
- Darling Nikki 2016
- Hunter 2015
- Blue Dream 2013
- Violent Blue 2011
- Mad Cowgirl 2006
- Until the Night 2004
As distributor
- Butterfly (1982 film) by Matt Cimber
- The Killer by John Woo
- Samurai Cop by Amir Shervan
- Private Lessons (1981 film) by Alan Myerson
- My Favorite Season by Andre Techine
- Life Tastes Good by Philip Kan Gotanda
- Agantuk by Satyajit Ray
- Master of the Flying Guillotine by Jimmy Wang Yu
- Gozu by Takashi Miike
- Black Cat (1991 film)
- The Sinister Urge by Edward D. Wood, Jr.
- La separation by Christian Vincent
- Fever Pitch (1997 film) by Nick Hornby
- L'Ennui by Cedric Kahn
- Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl
- South of Heaven, West of Hell by Dwight Yoakam
- Blue Juice by Carl Prechezer
- Un pont entre deux rives by Gérard Depardieu
- Blood Tea and Red String by Christiane Cegavske
- Mikres Aphrodites by Nikos Koundouros
- Les Biches by Claude Chabrol
- Spring in a Small Town by Fei Mu
- The Terrorist by Santosh Sivan
- Wife to Be Sacrificed by Masaru Konuma starring Naomi Tani
- A Woman Called Sada Abe by Noboru Tanaka starring Junko Miyashita[6]
- R'Xmas by Abel Ferrara
- Yellow by Chris Chan Lee
References
- ^ Doyle, Wyatt. (1999). "Blood Spattered Hero in Hollywood" in Asian Cult Cinema Number 22, 1st Quarter 1999. p. 8.
- ^ Doyle (1999). p. 9.
- ^ Tani, Naomi. (1998) "Introduction" in Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. p. 9. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.
- ^ Thomas, Kevin. (1998). "Entertainment Desk" in the Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1998., p.21.
- ^ Doyle (1999). pp. 8-9.
- ^ Asian Cult Cinema, #22, 1st Quarter 1999, p.10.