Kei Fujiwara (ä¸ äºŒç¨¿ 京, Fujiwara Kei, born March 12, 1957) is a
Japanese actress, cinematographer, writer, film director, and theater
director. Her first role was in the American film The Neptune Factor,
but she is perhaps best known for starring in the Japanese cult film,
Tetsuo: The Iron Man. More recently she has devoted her time to
writing and directing, and is known for her surreal and violent
experimental films as well as her experimental theater company Organ
Vital.Fujiwara was born into a poor family in a rural part of Kumamoto
in 1957, and moved to Tokyo to pursue a career in theater. Playwright
JÅ«rÅ Kara wrote roles for her to act in his plays and eventually
became her mentor. She spent years creating underground theater
companies, and collaborated with Shinya Tsukamoto on the plays and 8mm
films he created. For Tsukamoto's film Tetsuo: The Iron Man, she
participated both in front of the camera as the unnamed Girlfriend
character, as well as behind the camera as the prop artist and one of
the cinematographers.After the production of Tetsuo, she returned to
underground theater and working with JÅ«rÅ Kara. She also formed the
Organ Vital company, which produced the play Organ and adapted the
play into the film of the same name. Organ and her later 2005 film Ido
never gained financial or critical success, but have become noted
examples of the Japanese horror genre. She has continued producing
theatre work through Organ Vital: a new "nomadic" theatre project
called Ibunkitan debuted in 2019, and has been presented in shops,
salons, and temples.She lives in a remote part of the Nagano
mountains.
Japanese actress, cinematographer, writer, film director, and theater
director. Her first role was in the American film The Neptune Factor,
but she is perhaps best known for starring in the Japanese cult film,
Tetsuo: The Iron Man. More recently she has devoted her time to
writing and directing, and is known for her surreal and violent
experimental films as well as her experimental theater company Organ
Vital.Fujiwara was born into a poor family in a rural part of Kumamoto
in 1957, and moved to Tokyo to pursue a career in theater. Playwright
JÅ«rÅ Kara wrote roles for her to act in his plays and eventually
became her mentor. She spent years creating underground theater
companies, and collaborated with Shinya Tsukamoto on the plays and 8mm
films he created. For Tsukamoto's film Tetsuo: The Iron Man, she
participated both in front of the camera as the unnamed Girlfriend
character, as well as behind the camera as the prop artist and one of
the cinematographers.After the production of Tetsuo, she returned to
underground theater and working with JÅ«rÅ Kara. She also formed the
Organ Vital company, which produced the play Organ and adapted the
play into the film of the same name. Organ and her later 2005 film Ido
never gained financial or critical success, but have become noted
examples of the Japanese horror genre. She has continued producing
theatre work through Organ Vital: a new "nomadic" theatre project
called Ibunkitan debuted in 2019, and has been presented in shops,
salons, and temples.She lives in a remote part of the Nagano
mountains.
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