Tizuka Yamasaki (born May 12, 1949) is a Brazilian film director.

Early life and work

Born in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

, at the age of 2, Tizuka moved back with her Japanese immigrants parents to the city of Atibaia, in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. In her teenage years, Yamasaki moved to

city for an undergraduate course in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, though she changed her mind before her admission and moved to

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

to study

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

instead. Yamasaki finished college in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, where she started her professional career. Yamasaki was one of the first women filmmakers in Brazil who achieved a successful and longstanding career. She and her peers learned filmmaking by working on the sets of well-established Cinema Novo directors. Yamasaki worked as director assistant with

Nelson Pereira dos Santos Nelson Pereira dos Santos (22 October 1928 21 April 2018) was a Brazilian film director. He directed films such as '' Vidas Secas'' (Barren Lives), based on the book with the same name by Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos. Biography Pereira d ...

and

Glauber Rocha Glauber de Andrade Rocha (; 14 March 1939 – 22 August 1981) was a Brazilian film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most influential moviemakers of Brazilian cinema and a key figure of Cinema Novo. His films ''Black God, White ...

. Yamasaki challenged the norms of Cinema Novo by increasing both the representation of women and the awareness of issues affecting women in Brazilian society. Her film style focuses on historical subjects and she uses the genre of melodrama to reconstruct Brazilian politics, history and culture. Yamasaki established herself as one of the most important film directors of the 1980s. Her films discussed sexuality and traditional gender roles more openly within Brazilian cultural identity. Yamasaki initiated a “cinema of emotion” to comment on Brazil's past and rework female figures’ experiences in Brazil's history. She's also a director of

telenovelas A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include ''teleserye'' (P ...

and TV series. Yamasaki began her work with auteur-style films, then transitioned to work in television. Yamaski continued to reference auteur cinema within her TV series productions. Yamasaki's work challenged glamorous Brazilian television by focusing on natural and realistic images. During her career, especially during the final years of the dictatorship, Yamasaki has suffered censorship and funding issues with her films. In response to these challenges, Yamasaki established her own production company in 1976, Centro de Produção e Comunicação (Production and Communication Center). This enabled her to bypass government regulations and become eligible for production funding from Embrafilme. Tizuka gained some critical acclaim with her 1980 film ''Gaijin, Os Caminhos da Liberdade'' (aka ''Gaijin, a Brazilian Odyssey''), a story about Japanese immigration to Brazil. She has, however, been criticized for directing overly commercial movies with the children TV show hostess

Xuxa Maria da Graça Xuxa Meneghel ( ; ; born Maria da Graça Meneghel, 27 March 1963) is a Brazilian television host, film actress, singer, model, and businesswoman. Known as "Queen of Little Ones", Xuxa built the largest Latin American children's e ...

. In 2003, she completed ''Gaijin 2'' as a sequel to her debut film.

Television productions

* ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

'' (2004) – telenovela * ''

A madona de cedro A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'' (1994) – miniseries * '' Amazônia'' (1992) – telenovela * '' Kananga do Japão'' (1989) – telenovela * '' O pagador de promessas'' (1988) – miniseries

Filmography as director

*'' Gaijin - Os Caminhos da Liberdade'' (1980) * '' Parahyba, Mulher-Macho'' (1983) * '' Patriamada'' (1984) * ''

kananga do japao Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital city of the Kasai-Central Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was the capital of the former Kasaï-Occidental Province. It is the fourth most populous urban ar ...

'' (1989) * ''

Lua de Cristal ''Lua de Cristal'' ( en, Xuxa in Crystal Moon, italic=yes) is a 1990 Brazilian romantic comedy film directed by Tizuka Yamasaki, and starring Xuxa Meneghel. With just under 5 million spectators, ''Lua de Cristal'' was the biggest film of the ...

'' (1990) * ''

Fica Comigo The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA ) is a United States federal payroll (or employment) contribution directed towards both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare—federal programs that provide benefits for ret ...

'' (1996) * ''

O Noviço Rebelde ''O Noviço Rebelde'' is a 1997 Brazilian comedy film written, produced and starring by Renato Aragão. Directed by Tizuka Yamasaki, the film is a parody of the 1965 American film ''The Sound of Music''. It was the highest-grossing locally produce ...

'' (1997) * '' Xuxa Requebra'' (1999) * '' Xuxa Popstar'' (2000) * '' Gaijin - Ama-me Como Sou'' (2005) *''Encantados (2014)''

References

1949 births Living people People from Porto Alegre Brazilian people of Japanese descent Brazilian film directors Brazilian women film directors {{Brazil-film-director-stub