Kayo Hatta (March 18, 1958 â€" July 20, 2005) was an American
filmmaker, writer, and community activist. She directed and co-wrote
the independent dramatic feature-length film Picture Bride, which won
the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award in 1995 for Best Dramatic
Film.Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hatta grew up in New York. She
graduated from Stanford University and obtained a master's degree in
film from UCLA.Picture Bride was an Official Selection at the 1994
Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, and received an
Independent Spirit Award nomination for best first film. Distributed
worldwide by Miramax, the film was praised for its authenticity
(including extensive use of Hawaiian pidgin dialogue), and continues
to be used in the curriculum at a number of Hawaii universities and
schools.While at UCLA, she began Picture Bride as a short film, but
felt the material deserved to be feature length. Hatta describes the
long process of developing and finding financing for the film on the
DVD version of Picture Bride, released by Miramax Home Entertainment,
in 2004. The DVD includes a "making of" documentary featuring an
extensive interview with Hatta and cast members, archival historical
footage, and behind-the-scenes clips from the movie set. She recounts
how the film encountered many technical difficulties during
production, and ran out of funding halfway through the shooting.
However, the lead actress, Japanese star Youki Kudoh, was able to make
phone calls from the set to convince a Japanese lingerie company, for
whom she had modeled, to buy the Japanese rights to the film, and
production was able to continue. Hatta was also able to enlist the
participation of a number of other established actors, such as
legendary Japanese actor ToshirÅ Mifune, and Tamlyn Tomita.
filmmaker, writer, and community activist. She directed and co-wrote
the independent dramatic feature-length film Picture Bride, which won
the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award in 1995 for Best Dramatic
Film.Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hatta grew up in New York. She
graduated from Stanford University and obtained a master's degree in
film from UCLA.Picture Bride was an Official Selection at the 1994
Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, and received an
Independent Spirit Award nomination for best first film. Distributed
worldwide by Miramax, the film was praised for its authenticity
(including extensive use of Hawaiian pidgin dialogue), and continues
to be used in the curriculum at a number of Hawaii universities and
schools.While at UCLA, she began Picture Bride as a short film, but
felt the material deserved to be feature length. Hatta describes the
long process of developing and finding financing for the film on the
DVD version of Picture Bride, released by Miramax Home Entertainment,
in 2004. The DVD includes a "making of" documentary featuring an
extensive interview with Hatta and cast members, archival historical
footage, and behind-the-scenes clips from the movie set. She recounts
how the film encountered many technical difficulties during
production, and ran out of funding halfway through the shooting.
However, the lead actress, Japanese star Youki Kudoh, was able to make
phone calls from the set to convince a Japanese lingerie company, for
whom she had modeled, to buy the Japanese rights to the film, and
production was able to continue. Hatta was also able to enlist the
participation of a number of other established actors, such as
legendary Japanese actor ToshirÅ Mifune, and Tamlyn Tomita.
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