Katsuhito Ishii (b. 1966, Niigata, Japan) started out in 1992 directing commercials which brought him several awards. In 1996 he shot his first short film, The Promise of August, which took the Grand Prix at the Yubari IFF. He came out with his feature debut two years later, Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl (Samehada otoko to momojiri onna, 1998), inspired by Minetaro Mochizuki's manga novel. His next picture, Party 7 (2000), was a grand success. In 2001-02 he wrote and directed two series of short animated films: Hal & Bons (in 3D) and Trava (2D). He furthered his animation reputation with the anime sequences in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. He in turn used the services of Takeshi Koike for the animation in Party 7 and The Taste of Tea (Cha no Aji).
MFF Karlovy Vary
