J-Sei At the Movies: Meet Ema Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Nyari
Friday, April 15, 2022 – 6:30 pm on Zoom
Watch the documentary KOSHIEN: JAPAN’S FIELD OF DREAMS (2019), then join us on Zoom to meet director Ema Ryan Yamazaki and producer Eric Nyari.
In 2018, in anticipation of the 100th edition of Koshien — the high school baseball tournament held every summer and avidly followed in Japan — director Yamazaki selected two teams to film as they trained and competed for a spot in the highly coveted national championship. The result is a gripping documentary chronicling the hopes and dreams of coaches and players alike and the unending dedication and sacrifice that can lead to victory — or the agony of defeat. Not simply a story about baseball, KOSHIEN explores Japanese traditions and the Japanese spirit and how they fit, or not, in today’s society.
RSVP with “April Movie Night” in the subject line. You’ll receive information to watch the film on a secure site prior to the Zoom event with the filmmakers. [Note: This film is also available through the Kanopy streaming service (library membership required).]
About the Filmmakers
Ema Ryan Yamazaki (Director/Editor) graduated from New York University and became the assistant to documentary mogul Sam Pollard. She has edited work shown on HBO, PBS and CNN, among others, and has directed TV documentaries for NHK and Al Jazeera English. Her feature directorial debut, “Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators” (2017), premiered at the LA Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the Nantucket Film Festival. In 2019, she directed “Koshien: Japan’s Field of Dreams,” a special co-production with NHK on the occasion of the 100th National High School Baseball Championship. It premiered at DOC NYC, aired on ESPN, and was released theatrically in Japan to great acclaim.
Ema edits all of her own work. In 2017, Ema married film producer Eric Nyari, and they frequently collaborate as producing/directing partners.
Eric Nyari (Producer) is president of Cineric Creative and international representative for renowned restoration house Cineric, Inc. He has managed 4K restorations of Kenji Mizoguchi’s “Ugetsu,” “Sansho the Bailiff,” and “A Story from Chikamatsu” with Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, as well as Yasujiro Ozu’s “Late Spring” and the films of Yuzo Kawashima. Nyari has also produced numerous films in Japan, including Amir Naderi’s “Cut,” Stephen Nomura Schible’s “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” Takeshi Fukunaga’s “Ainu Mosir,” and Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s “Koshien: Japan’s Field of Dreams.”
