The award ceremony took place on Friday, July 18th in Sydney, Australia.  Here is a clip of Dean Yamada accepting the Inigo Award. 

It is now official that MNK has won a significant award in Australia — 1st place — that comes with a cash prize of 2,500 EUR.  Dean Yamada, the director of MNK is in Australia at this time to receive the award.

For more information go to:   Worship And the Arts Blog

The Los Angeles premiere of “Mujo No Kaze” is set for Saturday, December 1st at the AFI Ted Ashley Screening Room in Los Angeles and will run from 8:30-11pm.

Doors open: 8:15pm

Showtimes: 8:30pm (followed by Q&A with writer/director Dean Yamada and crew); 9:15pm.

Dress is semi-formal. Reception at same location. Admission is free!

Directions from Biola:
1. Start out going south on Biola Avenue toward Cortina Dr 0.3 mi
2. Turn right onto Rosecrans. 2.3 mi
3. Turn slight right onto Firestone Blvd. 0.3 mi
4. Merge onto I-5 N. 12.1 mi
5. Keep LEFT to take US-101 N toward Los Angeles/Civic Center. 8.6 mi
6. Take the Hollywood Blvd exit- Exit 8B. 0.2 mi
7. Take the Hollywood Blvd East ramp. <0.1 mi
8. Turn slight right onto Hollywood Blvd. 0.3 mi
9. Turn left onto N. Western Ave. 0.3 mi
10. End: 2021 N Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027, US

Time: about 30 minutes (watch out for traffic, though!)

Mujo No Kaze was picture-locked in July (or thereabouts). Dean then began working with various post-houses on sound-mixing, and color correction. Many of you may be wondering what the blazes has been going on with this film since then. A lot, actually. I’ll attempt to corral all that information here:

>>The completed film was submitted to Sundance and Slamdance, mid-October. We’ll hear if we’re in at the end of this month/beginning of the next.

>>The premiere is set for December 1st at the AFI Mark Goodson Theatre in Los Angeles. Doors open at 8:30. Admission is free.

>>The website has been launched! A high quality version of the trailer is now available! Visit at: http://mnkmovie.com

>>The trailer is also on YouTube. The quality leaves much to be desired, but if it would tickle your fancy to see it on that massive purveyor of media, I present you with the link here

>>We have created a Facebook group, so if you would like to support us or want to catch the latest news, join us at: “Mujo No Kaze: The Wind of Impermanence”

Mujo No Kaze has been one heck of a wild ride, and it’s not over yet!

–posted by alyssa iwata

Is the film premiere already here and gone?
I would love to have a copy of the press kit and I want to see the film!!! : )

How is everyone doing?

~Posted by MeiYen~

Before I break out into a song and dance number straight out of Newsies, check out the Summer ‘07 issue of the “Biola Connections” magazine for an article on the Japan trip and the film. I was wondering how the writer would pull it all together, as our comments were rather eclectic, but as I hope it shows, heartfelt. *Sniff* It reminds of how much I miss Japan, that’s for sure.

If you don’t already receive the magazine, it can be downloaded for free in PDF form here: Biola Connections Magazine. The article can be found on page twenty.

Enjoy!

P.S. Who’s compiling the press kits?????

–Posted by Alyssa Iwata

By jove, I’ve got it! After going on many a wild goose chase to get the formatting right, it is finally here.
Yes, ladies and gents, the extended teaser trailer is now available for your viewing pleasure! It’s a slightly bigger bite than the previous one, but it is still just a taste. An hors d’oeuvre, as it were. Bon appétit!

–Posted by Alyssa Iwata

P.S. The quality of the video is sort of on the level of cheese-whiz and crackers due to the video hosting site. When our website is launched, the quality will be that of brie and fine caviar. Just so you know. You’ll actually believe us when we say it was shot in HD!

–The pickups of the L.A. supermarket/shooting scene were completed on March 31st. The mini-crew (Dean, Andrew, Clint, Jenny, and I) filmed at a Japanese Market in Little Tokyo, but we were able to make it look very American (oh, the irony). Our eyes grew big when we saw all the Japanese drinks and goodies that we missed so much. Our two actors were wonderfully nice (look for them as pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean 3: World’s End). We went out to eat yakitori before heading over to a Ralph’s supermarket outside USC to film the shooting scene (look for Andrew’s cameo). ‘Mujo No Kaze’ is officially in the can! Or hardrive.

–Paul, Mark, and Mei Yen are coming for the Biola Media Conference in less than a week! We are excited to reunite with our friends and collaborators from Japan.

–The film keeps getting better with each new cut. We’ve been playing with the structure, and many possible options keep appearing. Our editors have come up with some great ideas. It will be interesting to see what is finally used in the end.

–We’re still trying to pin a date down for the L.A. premiere. Possible dates include the end of May or the end of August. It is our hope to create an elegant and memorable cultural event.

–Finally, I have almost completely finished the extended teaser trailer. As soon as Dean approves it, we’ll let you know when and where it can be viewed. It will feature some music by our composer, Samuel Kim. I can’t wait for you to see and hear it, for it is but a taste of what is to come!

–Posted by Alyssa Iwata

May I present…
A very very very short clip to whet your appetite!
Sort of a teaser of a teaser trailer, if you will.
Please don’t be terribly disappointed because it’s so short. It is 35 seconds more than zero seconds, which was how much footage was on this blog before this moment!
So, without further (or much) ado (about 35 seconds more than nothing)…
A tease! A taste!

P.S. I hope to have a full trailer edited by mid-April at the latest, probably. Maybe.

–Posted by Alyssa Iwata

–Post-production has been in the works for the last month or so, and I, for one, can barely contain myself as I watch Mujo No Kaze emerge from the ground and begin to grow. True, it is only a sapling at this point, but I believe that God is breathing life into this film and that it is beginning to take on a shape of its own.

–We’re planning on shooting the grocery store scene in a couple of weeks and are still looking for Daichi’s body double. It will most likely be a night shoot, which will be a new experience. Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!

–The rough cut is nearly complete. Three editors from Dean’s Advanced Editing class have been cutting Mujo No Kaze on Avid and are doing a great job (can you imagine cutting dialogue scenes that are in a completely different language?). It is currently about 14 minutes. The footage is beautiful, but I hope it’s not too orange :) .

–Finally, look forward to a website, the press kit, a trailer, and information about the premiere in the coming months!

–Posted by Alyssa Iwata