was a Korean film director who worked in Japan. He was the president of the Directors Guild of Japan.

Life and career

Sai was born on 6 July 1949 in

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

, Japan. His mother was Japanese and his father was

Zainichi Korean () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

. Sai won the Best Screenplay award at the 11th

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

for '' A Sign Days''. In 1999, he shot ''The Pig's Retribution'', a film set in the lavish natural scenery of Okinawa, inspired by the 1996 Akutagawa Prize-winning eponymous novel by Eiki Matayoshi. The film won the Don Quixote prize at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

in 1999. Sai directed '' Blood and Bones'', a film starring

Takeshi Kitano , also known as in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. During hi ...

. He has also directed films such as ''Marks'', '' Doing Time'', '' Quill'', '' Soo'' and '' Kamui Gaiden''. As an actor, Sai appeared in

Nagisa Oshima is a Japanese name, Japanese given name used by either sex and is occasionally used as a surname. Written forms Nagisa can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *渚, "beach, strand" *汀, "water's edge/shore" *凪砂, "lu ...

's 1999 film ''

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

'' and Masahiko Nagasawa's 2003 film ''The Thirteen Steps''. Sai's 2004 film ''Blood and Bones'' won four Japanese Academy Awards, including two for Sai himself, for Best Director and Best Screenplay. He had previously received two nominations in the same categories for '' All Under the Moon''. Sai died of bladder cancer at his home in Tokyo, on 27 November 2022, at the age of 73.

Filmography

As director

Film

* ''Mosquito on the 10th Floor'' (1983) * ''Sex Crime'' (1983) * ''Someone Will Be Killed'' (1984) * ''Let Him Rest in Peace'' (1985) * ''Kuroi Doresu no Onna'' (1987) * '' Hana no Asuka-gumi!'' (1988) * '' A Sign Days'' (1989) * ''Burning Dog'' (1991) * '' All Under the Moon'' (1993) * ''Marks'' (1995) * ''Heisei Musekinin Ikka: Tokyo Deluxe'' (1995) * ''Dog Race'' (1998) * ''The Pig's Retribution'' (1999) * '' Doing Time'' (2002) * '' Blood and Bones'' (2004) * '' Quill'' (2004) * '' Soo'' (2007) * '' Kamui Gaiden'' (2009)

TV

* '' Pro Hunter'' (1981) (ep.15, 16 and 25)

As actor

* ''

'' (1999) * ''The Thirteen Steps'' (2003)

References

External links

* * 1949 births 2022 deaths Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year winners Korean film directors Korean screenwriters Korean people of Japanese descent People from Nagano Prefecture Deaths from cancer in Korea Deaths from bladder cancer Zainichi Korean filmmakers {{japan-film-bio-stub