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29 Jan – 8 Feb 2026

Zeze Takahisa

ZEZE Takahisa (1960, Ooita) made several Super8 films while still studying at the University of Tokyo. After working as an assistant director, he made his debut in 1989 with Good Luck Japan. He has won several prizes such as the FIPRESCI Prize and Netpac Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for Heaven’s Story (2010) and a nomination for Best Director at the Japan Academy Prize for the successful box office record 64 (2016). The Lowlife (2017) screened in the competition at Tokyo International Film Festival. His latest work One Last Bloom (2023) is selected for IFFR 2024. 

Filmography

(selection) Good Luck Japan (1989), Blue Sky (1989), Shiyowa guntoden (1990), Coconut Clash (1990), No Man’s Land (1991), Watakushi to iu genshiyo wa katei sareta yuki kori yudento no hitotsu no aoi shiyomei desu (1992), Watakushi no kisha wa kita e hashitte iru hazu na no ni koko de wa minami ni kakete iru (1992), A Fart of Monk (1993), Gendai guntoden (1993), Karura no Yume/The Dream of Garuda (1994), End of the World (1995), Yorunaku Semi/Acicada Weeping in the Night (1995), Karura no Yume/Dream of Garuda (1996), Raigyo (1997), Kokkuri-san/Kokkuri (1997), Hysteric (1999), Rush! (2001), Moon Star (2003), Hada no Sukima/A Gap in the Skin (2004), Sanctuary (2006), Heaven’s Story (2010), 64: Part I & II (2016), The Lowlife (2017), The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine (2018), Yarn (2020), In the Wake (2021), Tonbi (2020), From Siberia with Love (2022), One Last Bloom (2023)

Zeze Takahisa at IFFR

  • One Last Bloom

    Zeze Takahisa | 135' | Japan | European premiere

    An elderly boxing trainer grasps at a final chance for triumph through a young rookie.

  • Hysteric

    Zeze Takahisa | 100' | Japan | European premiere

    Boy and girl commit a clumsy raid and torture their victim. Criminal and macabre love story.

  • Karura no Yume

    Zeze Takahisa | 60' | Japan | International premiere

    Erotic and violent story involving old myths. Protagonist Ikuo recognises a prostitute as the woman he raped years before.

  • Tokyo X Erotica

    Zeze Takahisa | 77' | Japan | -

    One great discharge: this film keeps on coming, just like its wild, wonderfully shamelessly fucking protagonists, attractively flexible thanks to thei

  • Waisetu Boko Shiyudan, kemono

    Zeze Takahisa | 60' | Japan | -

    Tokyo at the time of the Gulf War. Rika swaps her rifle for money and bumps into the ‘self-made’ murderer Takeru when looking for a…