Joh Sasaki was born in Yubari, Hokkaido, Japan. He spent his early youth in Nakashibetsu City and later ventured to Sapporo where Sasaki attended Tsukisamu High School. He released his first novel, Tekkihei, tonda, in 1979. Sasaki quickly established himself as a writer after winning the All Yomimono New Writers Prize for Tekkihei, tonda which was also later adapted for the big screen.[6] Today Sasaki is known as a household author with numerous works in genres stretching from historical fiction, young adult fiction to police crime fiction, and even various TV Crime Drama adaptations.
Yang Yonghi
Japan
YANG Yonghi was born on November 11, 1964 in Osaka, Japan as a second-generation Korean resident known as “Zainichi.” After she graduated from Korean University in Tokyo, she has worked as a teacher, theater actress and bilingual radio host. In 1995 she started making films, mainly documentaries. Her works were aired as TV programs on TV channels such as NHK. She has also worked as a field reporter for TV news programs reporting from Thailand, Bangladesh, China and other Asian countries. Beginning in 1997, she spent six years in New York, during which time she filmed in various ethnic communities and also obtained MA in Media Studies at New School University Graduate School in New York. After returning to Japan in 2003, she worked for several TV news programs and directed two documentary films Dear Pyongyang (2005) and Sona, the Other Myself (2009) before directing her first fiction film Our Homeland (2011).
Fred Deakin
United Kingdom
Fred Deakin is half of the Mercury and Brit nominated electronica band Lemon Jelly: he is also a co-founder of the ground breaking London design agency Airside. He is currently teaching on the MA Communication Design course at Central Saint Martins and running the interactive venture Fred & Company: his website is at http://freddeak.in
Roger Garcia
Hong Kong, China
Roger Garcia is executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. He has published and broadcast extensively on cinema, and has worked as producer in Hollywood and Asia. He was born in Hong Kong and educated in England.