Katsuhito Ishii

• Name — Katsuhito Ishii • Native Name — 石井 克人 • Born — 31 December 1966 • Birthplace — Niigata Prefecture, Japan • Occupation — Film director, Screenwriter • Years Active — 1992–present • Education — Musashino Art University • Website — http: www.nicerainbow.com/

After graduating from Musashino Art University, Ishii got a job at Tohokushinsha Film and began directing commercials in 1992, receiving numerous awards in this field. His first short film, The Promise of August, shot in 1995, received the Japanese Film Grand Prix in the Fantastic Video Section of the 1995 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. He made his feature debut with Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, based on the visual novel by cult manga artist Minetaro Mochizuki and starring regular collaborator Tadanobu Asano. Ishii quickly followed his success with another box office hit, Party 7 (2000), which featured Masatoshi Nagase, Yoshio Harada and Tadanobu Asano among others. Between the years 2001 and 2002, he created a series of short films including the 3D animated dialogue piece Hal & Bons and the 2D animated space opera Trava Fist Planet. Among other commercials and select TV projects including the short Black Room which starred Takuya Kimura, and Music Power Go Go!, He collaborated with Production I.G for the animation sequence of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1. In 2004, his fourth feature film The Taste of Tea won Best Feature Film at the Hawaii International Film Festival. In 2006, he co-directed the feature film Funky Forest with fellow Japanese film makers and old school friends Shunichiro Miki and ANIKI. He founded his own production company, Nice Rainbow, in October 2006.

• Year — English title — Original title — Role — Notes • 1995 — Promise of August — 8月の約束 Hachigatsu no yakusoku — Writer and director • 1998 — Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl — 鮫肌男と桃尻女 Samehada otoko to momojiri onna • 2000 — Party 7 — PARTY7 • 2001 — Trava: Fist Planet episode 1 — Co-directed with Takeshi Koike — Original Video Animation • 2004 — The Taste of Tea — 茶の味 Cha no aji — Writer and director • 2005 — Funky Forest: The First Contact — ナイスの森 The First Contact Naisu no mori: The First Contact — Co-written and co-directed with Hajime Ishimine and Shunichiro Miki • 2007 — Hokuro Brothers Full Throttle!!!! — ホクロ兄弟 フルスロットル!!!! Hokuro Kyodai Full Throttle!!!! — Director • 2008 — My Darling of the Mountains — 山のあなた 徳市の恋 Yama no anata - Tokuichi no koi • Sorasoi — そらそい — Co-written with Yûka Ôsumi; co-directed with Shunichirô Miki • 2009 — Redline — REDLINE — Screenplay and original story • 2011 — Smuggler — スマグラー おまえの未来を運べ Smuggler: Carry Your Own Future — Director and screenplay — Based on manga by Shohei Manabe • 2014 — Hello! Jun'ichi — ハロー！純一 Harô! Jun'ichi — Co-directed with Kanoko Kawaguchi and Atsushi Yoshioka — Based on novel by Noriko Ishii • 2015 — Gamera: 50th Anniversary — Writer and director — Short film • 2022 — Norioka Workshop — ノリオカワークショップ • Funky Forest: The Second Contact — ナイスの森 The Second Contact Naisu no mori: The Second Contact — Co-written and co-directed with Hajime Ishimine and Shunichiro Miki — In production

Katsuhito Ishii is recorded as screenwriter, film director, illustrator and animator.