Gregory Hatanaka

Infobox Actor
name = Gregory Hatanaka

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imagesize = 200px
occupation = Film distributor, director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor

Gregory Hatanaka is an independent filmmaker and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Career

Hatanaka first began in film distribution working for Headliner Productions on the re-release of films by cult director Edward D. Wood, Jr. [Doyle, Wyatt. (1999). "Blood Spattered Hero in Hollywood" in "Asian Cult Cinema" Number 22, 1st Quarter 1999. p. 8.] 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." [Doyle (1999). p. 9.]

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. [Tani, Naomi. (1998) "Introduction" in cite book |last=Weisser|first=Thomas|coauthors=Yuko Mihara Weisser|title=Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films|year=1998|publisher=Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications|location=Miami|isbn=1-88928-852-7|pages=p.9] Beginning October 30, 1998 and then played for a week at the Monica 4-Plex theater in Los Angeles. [Thomas, Kevin. (1998). "Entertainment Desk" in the "Los Angeles Times", October 29, 1998., p.21.]

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 critically acclaimed crime novelist George Pelecanos. [Doyle (1999). pp. 8-9.]

He has also distributed the works of Satyajit Ray, Andre Techine, Claude Chabrol, Leni Riefenstahl, Cedric Kahn, Christian Vincent, Takashi Miike, Abel Ferrara and films with such acclaimed actors as Catherine Deneuve, Ewan McGregor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Isabelle Huppert, Chow Yun Fat, Billy Bob Thornton, Vince Vaughn, Bridget Fonda, Gerard Depardieu and Jimmy Wang Yu. Hatanaka is the founder of film distribution and production company Cinema Epoch.

Filmography

As director

*"Le Critique" 2009

*No Regrets 2009

*"Mad Cowgirl" 2006

*"Until the Night" 2004

As distributor

*"The Killer" by John Woo
*"Blood Tea and Red String" by Christiane Cegavske
*"Ma Saison Preferee" by Andre Techine
*"The Stranger" by Satyajit Ray
*"Master of the Flying Guillotine" by Jimmy Wang Yu
*"Gozu" by Takashi Miike
*"The Sinister Urge" by Edward D. Wood, Jr.
*"La Separation" by Christian Vincent
*"L'Ennui" by Cedric Kahn
*"Olympia" by Leni Riefenstahl
*"South of Heaven, West of Hell" by Dwight Yoakum
*"Blue Juice" by Carl Prechezer
*"Un Pont Entre Deux Rives" by Gerard Depardieu
*"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 ["Asian Cult Cinema", #22, 1st Quarter 1999, p.10.]
*"R'Xmas" by Abel Ferrara

References

External links

*imdb name|0368693
* [http://www.cinemaepoch.com Cinema Epoch site]