Sadly, director Koji Wakamatsu has died at the age of 76.
This was a year which had been particularly consecrated to him: "11/25: The Day He Chose His Own Fate", his film on the last days of Mishima, which was presented at the Festival of Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, "The Millennial Rapture" at the Venice Film Festival, and along with the two premiers, "Petrel Hotel Blue" at the Pusan Festival, where, less than two weeks ago, he received the prize for Best Asian Filmmaker of the Year. In Miyagi, his hometown, this autumn he also received a prestigious award honoring this Japanese artist, above and beyond the world of film.
And yet, until 2007, only a handful of particularly avid critics and cinephiles knew the films of Koji Wakamatsu, this prolific Japanese filmmaker, with his oeuvre of more than 130 films spanning 50 years since the 1960's.
So what explains this "oversight"?
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