Ema
Ryan
Yamazaki
Ryan
Yamazaki
Ema Ryan Yamazaki is a Japanese/British documentary filmmaker based in Tokyo, with roots in New York. With a unique perspective as an insider and outsider in Japan, Ema strives to tell stories that empathetically show human struggle and triumph.
Her third feature documentary, THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE, premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2023 and is currently playing festivals and in distribution around the world. She has also recently served as Editor and Co-Producer for Shiori Ito's BLACK BOX DIARIES, which premiered to critical acclaim at Sundance 2024.
Works
About
Born in Kobe, and raised by a Japanese mother and British father, Ema grew up navigating between cultures. As a teenager, Ema's passion was modern dance, through which she learned discipline and self-expression.
Her interest in filmmaking began in middle school, when she was given the opportunity to tell stories using a video camera.
When she was 19, she moved to New York and attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, focusing on documentary and editing. Upon graduating from NYU, she began her career as an assistant editor, mentored by documentary mogul Sam Pollard.
During her first year out of film school, Ema was selected through an open-call process with Al Jazeera English to make MONK BY BLOOD, a 25-minute documentary about a family that runs an 800-year-old temple in Kyoto.
In 2014, Ema was an editor on CNN's docu-series CHICAGOLAND, executive produced by Robert Redford. She went on to edit and co-produce CLASS DIVIDE, an HBO documentary directed by Marc Levin, which won the Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC in 2015.
In 2016, she co-directed a documentary for NHK on Martin Scorsese's film SILENCE.
In 2017, Ema's first feature length documentary, MONKEY BUSINESS: THE ADVENTURES OF CURIOUS GEORGE'S CREATORS, was released worldwide.
The documentary uses animation, archival materials and interviews to tell the incredible story of Hans and Margret Rey, the authors of the beloved children's book series Curious George. For the film, Ema successfully raised over $186,000 on Kickstarter.
Acquired by The Orchard, the film premiered at the LA Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the Nantucket Film Festival.
Having lived in New York for 9 years, Ema developed a new perspective toward her homeland of Japan, gaining an appreciation for the core values that had shaped her own character.
With a desire to tell more complex stories about Japan than what is typically available in international media, Ema decided to create a base in Tokyo from the spring of 2017.
In 2018, Ema embarked on her second feature documentary KOSHIEN: JAPAN'S FIELD OF DREAMS, exploring the cultural phenomenon of Japanese high school baseball as a microcosm of Japanese society.
In co-production with NHK, the film is an intimate and dramatic journey following coaches and players from two high schools - one being Shohei Ohtani's alma mater - during the historic 100th summer Koshien tournament. Koshien examines the past, present, and future of Japan's national obsession, as it struggles to balance character building traditions with more moderate ways to educate the next generation of successful adults. After premiering at DOC NYC, the film aired in primetime on ESPN in 2020, and was released theatrically in Japan. It became a New York Times recommendation for international streaming and featured on the Criterion Channel.
Also in 2019, Ema directed a 47-part mini-documentary series for NHK that aired in tandem with its annual historical “Taiga” drama, IDATEN, featuring stories about the history of Japan, sports, and its Olympic quest.
Additionally, her 11-part short documentary series about baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, “#dearICHIRO”, was commissioned by Yahoo! Japan.
In 2020, Ema completed her 5-year long project on the renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre's long-time Japanese Associate Artistic Director, Masazumi Chaya, CHAYA: AILEY'S KEEPER OF THE FLAME. The documentary follows Chaya's final years before retirement, while reflecting on his life as a Japanese pioneer in the world of dance. It aired on NHK and NHK World.
Ema also directed WHEELS OF FATE: THE STORY OF THE RICKSHAW MAN, exploring the fateful history of Japan's singular humanist film made during World War II. The short documentary premiered together with the 4K restoration of THE RICKSHAW MAN in the Venice Film Festival's Classics section.
In December 2020, Ema received the "Documentary Filmmaker of the Year Award" from Yahoo! JAPAN.
In 2021, TEMPLE FAMILY, following the future head priest of a 800-year-old temple family in Kyoto, his fiancée, and his sister, aired on NHK and NHK World. The film captures one unexpected corner of Japanese society's struggle to balance tradition with progress, especially on the top of gender. It is a sequel to MONK BY BLOOD.
Ema also joined Naomi Kawase's team as Co-Director and Supervising Editor of the official Olympic film “The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020”, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.
Ema's latest feature THE MAKING OF A JAPANESE made its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2023. With unprecedented access to a public elementary school in Tokyo, the film intimately follows 1st and 6th graders for one year, observing kids learning the traits necessary to become part of Japanese society. Having attended Japanese elementary school herself, the film comes from Ema's belief that the foundation of Japanese society can be seen in the schooling system. The film is represented by renowned sales agent Autlook, with the international premiere at Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival.
Most recently Ema was Editor and Co-Producer on Shiori Ito's BLACK BOX DIARIES, which world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival's World Documentary Competition in 2024 to critical acclaim. The Screen Daily called Ema's work “brilliant” and Variety commented on how “[the] material is all expertly braided by editor Ema Ryan Yamazaki”. The film is undergoing a film festival run, including MoMa's Doc Fortnight, SXSW, CPH:DOX, and Hong Kong International Film Festival. She has also been serving as an Executive Producer on director Neo Sora's debut narrative feature film.
Ema married film producer Eric Nyari in 2017, and they frequently collaborate as producing/directing partners. They have a son, born in 2022.
Contact
Cineric Creative
Cineric Creative is an independent production company based in New York and Tokyo. It is especially focused on international co-productions with Japan, where it has a strong reputation for helping to realize ambitious art-house films. The company provides local production services projects with Japanese elements, including field producing, editing, trailer-making, translation, and subtitles.
cinericcreative.comema@cinericcreative.com
