Akiko Iwase is an actress, author, and screenwriter who hails from Tochigi, Tochigi, Japan.
What is known of Akiko Iwase’s personal life?
Akiko Iwase is Japanese from Tochigi, Japan is where she was born and raised. She continued her study after high school and earned a degree from Virginia’s College of William & Mary. Akiko returned to Japan after receiving her undergraduate degree and launched her acting career in Tokyo. Since then, she has performed in theatre, movies, and television.
How did Akiko Iwase’s career start?
She founded “Bion,” her own theatre company, in 2008, where she performed as an actor, writer, and producer. Since its founding, “Bion” has produced one to two plays a year. At the Kamome One-Act Play Festival, a nationwide competition in Japan, she received awards for Best Actor and Best Script Writer in 2017.
She made her debut in the 2016 Jason Zada film “The Forest,” and in the 2019 Ridley Scott-produced Netflix feature “Earthquake Bird,” directed by Wash Westmoreland, Akiko was excited to collaborate with Oscar winner Alicia Vikander. Then she took part in Andrew Levitas’ “Minamata” (2020). She shared the red carpet at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival with actors like Hiroyuki Sanada, Bill Nighy, and Johnny Depp.
Akiko has written numerous plays in addition to TV dramas like the well-known Japanese detective series “Tokuso 9.”
Her screenwriting and film production debut happened in 2021 with the independent film “Lunar Maria.” She wrote the film and also played the role of Shizuko Yuzuki in the film. The film is based in Tokyo region where a woman Shizuko Yuzuk lives with her mother-in-law, Harue, and her abandoned them five years ago.
Shizuko’s name is completely lost to Harue, who has had dementia for three years. Harue walks in search of her son Yutaka, who has gone missing, every day. Shizuko’s days are devoted to taking care of her ill mother-in-law.
A break-in trembles the neighborhood one day. The injured burglar decides to hide in the Yuzuki family’s home, but Shizuko finds him. When Shizuko tries to scream, the thief places his palm over her mouth. Shizuko struggles valiantly to respond. Harue approaches the two without realizing she is in danger.
However, the unexpected remarks that escape her lips start a series of occasions that will shine a light on the Yuzuki home. Koji Hagiuda was the director of the movie.
What was Akiko Iwase’s role in the movie Minamata?
In the movie Minamata which was released in 2020, Akiko Iwase acted alongside Johnny Depp as Masako Matsumura.
Aileen Mioko Smith and W. Eugene Smith’s novel of the same name was the inspiration for the drama film Minamata, which Andrew Levitas directed. As W. Eugene Smith, an American photographer who chronicled the symptoms of mercury poisoning on the residents of Minamata, Kumamoto, Japan was played in the movie by Johnny Depp, who also produced it. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2020. Samuel Goldwyn Films distributed it on February 11, 2022, in the US. The movie finished third in the Oscars Fan Favorite category at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022.
The movie revolves around W. Eugene Smith who is an American photographer best known for his several “photographic essays” that appeared in Life, has isolated himself as of 1971. Aileen, a passionate Japanese translator who is working on a different project, begs Smith to go to Minamata to take pictures and record the epidemic. Smith is ultimately persuaded to exert all of his effort in exposing the destructive effects of corporate greed, a partner of the neighborhood police and government.
In order to show the devastation that mercury poisoning and the Minamata illness have on coastal towns, Smith travels to Minamata, Japan. Industrial pollution linked to the operations of the chemical business Chisso is the root cause of this sickness. In order to tell this narrative to the world, Smith must acquire the trust of the fractured community while facing up against a powerful company with just his Minolta camera. Smith experiences harsh retaliation while there. Therefore, he must return immediately to the United States. He will, nevertheless, become a photojournalism icon as a result of this article.
The heart of this film unquestionably lies in the remarkable performance of Japanese actress Minami, who manages to be both raw and passionate. Hiroyuki Sanada, who is always trustworthy, makes the most of his brief appearances on screen, but Will Smith and Johnny Depp steal the show in this project.
The picture owes a lot to DOP Benoit Delhomme for his effort and to composer Ryuchi Sakamoto for the moving score from a technical standpoint. The movie’s pacing, which occasionally slips, is the only minor complaint; otherwise, director Andrew Levitas does a commendable job bringing one of W. Eugene Smith’s most significant episodes to life.
What are Akiko Iwase’s other projects?
Akiko Iwase plays the role of Ms. Kato in a show based on Susanna Jones’ 2001 book of the same name, Earthquake Bird is a 2019 psychological thriller film that Wash Westmoreland wrote, produced, and directed. Jack Huston, Riley Keough, Naoki Kobayashi, and Alicia Vikander are the main actors.
On October 10, 2019, it made its global premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. Prior to Netflix starting its digital streaming on November 15, it was made available on November 1, 2019.
The film is about Lucy Fly who is a Swedish woman immigrant who works as a translator at a company. When her companion Lily (Riley Keough) vanishes during a turbulent love triangle with Teiji Matsuda, Lucy Fly is accused of murder (Naoki Kobayashi).
Flashbacks from Lucy’s early years, as well as scenes from her romantic connection with Teiji and friendship with an American expat named Lily Bridges, are interspersed throughout the story. As a pastime, Teiji enjoys snapping pictures of people, especially women. Later on, Teiji would begin a sexual connection with Lucy and then Lily.
Akiko also made a cameo in 2016 American supernatural horror film titled The Forest which was written by Ben Ketai, Nick Antosca, and Sarah Cornwell and directed by Jason Zada. It depicts a young woman who visits Aokigahara (the suicide forest) in search of her sister. Natalie Dormer and Taylor Kinney star.