MISHIMA: THE LAST DEBATE
Japan, 2020 - 108’
Direction: Keisuke Toyoshima / Cast: Yukio Mishima
During the time of mass movement rising in late 60’s all over the world, an internationally acclaimed author, poet, playwright, actor, film director and critic Yukio Mishima, took part in a heated discussion with 1,000 members of the student movement at the University of Tokyo in 1969, just a year before Mishima’s suicide. The original master footage of his last debate with students has been found after 50 years from the filming. Though they have different opinions to each other, Mishima addressed and influenced the young audience with respect.
Keisuke Toyoshima (1971) was born in Shizuoka. While studying in the University of Tokyo, Toyoshima’s short film “Kanashii Dake” was premiered at Pia Film Festival in 1994. After graduating from the university, he went to Los Angeles to take the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the American Film Institute. He made his feature directorial debut with “Your Honor! How about a Little Leniency?” in 2010, after directing TV dramas and writing scripts for film and TV projects. “Mishima: the Last Debate” marks as his first documentary feature.
