Yoko Yamanaka
Japanese film director (born 1997)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yōko Yamanaka (山中瑶子, Yamanaka Yōko; born 1997) is a Japanese filmmaker known for her 2017 film, Amiko, and 2024 film, Desert of Namibia.
Career
Yamanaka dropped out of the Nihon University College of Art to create her debut film, Amiko.[1][2] She wrote the screenplay at 19 years old, six months after graduating from high school. The film premiered in 2017 at the Pia Film Festival and won the Audience Award and the Hikari TV Award.[3] Amiko subsequently showed at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival, making Yamanaka the youngest director ever to premiere a film at the Berlin festival at only 20 years old.[2][4]
Her next feature film, Desert of Namibia, screened at the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.[5] She won the FIPRESCI Award at the festival for her work directing the film. At age 27, Yamanaka was the youngest female director to win this award and the sixth Japanese director to win.[6][3]