Japan Crew

Irene Carolina Herrera, Director/Camera/Production Manager/Editor
Irene Carolina Herrera is a photographer, documentary filmmaker and journalist based in Japan with more than 10 years of experience working on media related projects in Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, France, Miami, India and Japan. Irene is a member of Temple University where she teaches courses on Filmmaking, Media Studies and the History of Documentary. She currently serves different Tokyo-based NGOs such as Friends of MSSRF, as Media Advisor, and OXFAM. Among her most recent projects is a documentary on female self-help groups in Southern India. After finishing her B.A. in Audiovisual Journalism, she came to Japan as a Monbukagakusho scholar to pursue a Masters degree in filmmaking. Currently she is writing her Ph.D. dissertation on photographic anthropology, “A Culture seen through the lens: Brazilian Nikkejin”, at Nihon University. Irene is finishing a Diploma in NGO Management and has just completed an international course at the United Nations University in Peacebuilding. Last year she exhibited images of the Japanese Brazilian descendants series at the prestigious Nikon Salon and in 2005 received the Gran Prix at the Expo Aichi Friendship Film Festival for a documentary on Venezuela and Japan titled “Kodo wo Awaseba”. Her articles and photographs have been featured in Variety, El Nacional, Metropolis, Dune and The Japan Times. Irene is passionate about world religions and the millenary teachings of the Vedic tradition. http://www.irechan.net; http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20061216a1.html

Andreina Lairet, Co-director/ Production Manager/ Still Photography/Still Photo Coordinator/Assistant Editor
Andreina Lairet is a Venezuelan photographer and journalist with experience in coordinating and developing web projects. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Andreina moved to Tokyo in 2003 as a Monbusho (Japanese Dept. of Education) scholarship recipient to study Japanese and obtain an MA Degree in Visual Arts at Nihon University College of Arts.Previously, Andreina had completed a BA in Media and Communications at the Andres Bello Catholic University in Caracas. Andreina has studied and worked in Yugoslavia, Austria, Venezuela, Argentina and Japan. Her professional experience includes: film/video production, still photography, web project coordination (for more than 5 years), as well as collaborating with various newspapers and magazines in Venezuela and England. Currently, Andreina is working at United Nations University Media Studio, combining IT and communications to develop free, open source educational media that address environmental and social topics. http://www.andreinalairet.com/

Ron Carr, Producer/Camera/Editing and Technical Advisor
Ron Carr, MFA, University of California at Los Angeles, is an Associate Professor at Temple University, Japan Campus, and Director of the communications program. His areas of instruction include videography, broadcast production and narrative studies. Mr.Carr’s professional background includes broadcasting experience as a writer and producer, and playwright. His programming credits include the American Broadcasting Company and NHK.

Nobuhiro Awata, Production Coordinator/ Camera / Technical Advisor
Nobuhiro Awata studied and worked as a Sound Engineer in New York, U.S.A. Nobu worked not only on films but also in theatre. He has developed an interdisciplinary approach to filmmaking and enjoys working on documentaries and non-profit based projects. Now he has begun to incorporate his knowledge of computer programming into craft of filmmaking. He is also a photographer and stage supervisor. He has lived in Taiwan and currently works also as a translator English/Japanese/Mandarin. Nobu has visited many countries in Asia and South America. http://fotologue.jp/knob63

Helio Ishii, Special Advisor / Camera
Helio Ishii obtained a B.A. in Social Sciences. After graduating he started working as a free-lance camera operator for Brazilian television channels. In 1994, he started a production company which served a dozen of theatre, music, experimental art and alternative culture groups in the city of Sao Paulo. He directed video, clips, documentaries, experimental videos, his first feature film on video and a 35mm short film. From the year 2000 up until now he has continued experimenting with digital technology. He is still seeking to direct documentaries and fiction as a member of a production company in Sao Paulo and as a member of Virgulino, a creative artists group. Among his films are Cartas, a documentary film about four Nikkei women who speak about their experience of coming to Japan to work and Permanencia, a story about young Brazilians who grow up in Japan.

Samson Yee, Photographer/Casting Coordinator/ Assistant Producer
Samson Yee is a photographer and still photo fixer born in Hong Kong, educated in England and currently based in Tokyo. Samson holds a B.A. in Sociology with an emphasis on family. Upon graduating, Samson worked for UNESCO as a photographer in India. After returning to Japan he began working as an assistant to a variety of commercial photographers. In 2003, he joined an NGO, called Africa Rikai and ended up working as a photographer and designer in Ethiopia for three years. http://atashi.jp; http://www.lightstalkers.org/samson_yee

Claudianna Blanci, Camera

Andreina Lairet, Still Photography Editor / Camera

Chieko Kato, Photographer/ Production Assistant
Chieko Kato; http://fotologue.jp/choco

Mariko Nagaba, Photographer/ Translator/ Production Assistant

Sakura Ono, Photographer

Erika Aragon, Post-Production Assistant

Simone Goldsmith, Post-Production Assistant

Kiyomi Nakai, Technical Support / Production Assistant/ Camera assistant
Kiyomi Nakai graduated from San Francisco State University with BA degree in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts in 2003. Currently she works in the news department of TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc.) as an audio/visual video engineer.

Wakako Iguchi, Photographer
Wakako Iguchi; http://www.lightstalkers.org/wakako_iguchi

Mike Olsen, New Media Unit/ GPS/ GLP- TUJ Intern
Mike Olsen is from San Diego, California. Currently a student at Temple University Japan campus. Majoring in Communications, studying film and photography. Michael’s interests are in documentary style film making and post production editing. When photographing Michael likes to shoot using all kinds of techniques; however he prefers film photography when photographing in black & white and infrared.http://www.hakujinmike.net/

Jon Jameson, Behind the Scenes Unit/ GPS/ GLP- TUJ Intern
Jon Jameson is a Temple University Japan student majoring in Communications.

Erika Aragon, Behind the Scenes Unit/ GPS/ GLP- TUJ Intern
Erika Aragon is a Temple University Japan student majoring in Communications. Born in the United States of Mexican parents she has now been living in Japan for the past 10 years.

Yumi Garcia dos Santos, Behind the Scenes Unit/ GPS/ GLP- TUJ Intern / Interpreter
Yumi is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Sao Paulo University. She is a film producer and a specialist in gender studies. Yumi is fluent in Portuguese, Japanese, English and French.

Samson Yee, Casting / Interpreter

Geeta Mehta, Exhibit Design

Jessica Niles, Exhibit Design

Jeanette Somocuricio, Exhibit Design

Hiromi Saito, Translation Coordinator

Kaori Toda, Translation / Transcription

Seikoh Hokama, Translation / Transcription

Rika Wani, Translation / Transcription

Hideyuki Kubo, Translation / Transcription

James Adson, Translation / Transcription

Kenta Shibasaki, Translation / Transcription

Yui Shimizu, Translation / Transcription

Go Miyatake, Translation / Transcription

Chris Meyers, Translation / Transcription

Maya Danjo, Translation / Transcription

Hinako Sato, Translation / Transcription

Sonia Kim, Translation / Transcription

Saki Ogawa, Translation / Transcription

Atsuki Nishiuchi, Translation / Transcription

Yoku Lee, Translation / Transcription

Mikiko Yang, Translation / Transcription

Yuki Onishi, Translation / Transcription

Aya Fukuju, Translation / Transcription

Zane Kheir, Translation / Transcription

Aisha Lawrey, Translation / Transcription

Ikuko Onuma, Translation / Transcription

Yuko Okamoto, Translation / Transcription

Yuka Okagaki, Translation / Transcription

Yumi Watanabe, Translation / Transcription

Minami Ito, Translation / Transcription

Holly Didi-Ogren, Translation / Transcription

Kei Dobashi, Translation / Transcription

Xinran Xu, Translation / Transcription

Kentaro Shimano, Translation / Transcription

Kozue Hirakawa, Translation / Transcription

Jesse Bias, Translation / Transcription

Hiromi Saito, Translation / Transcription

Kaoru Shimoda, Translation / Transcription

Sayoko Terashima, Translation / Transcription

Megumi Matsumoto, Translation / Transcription

Anisah Kassim, Translation / Transcription

Lindee Hoshikawa, Translation / Transcription

Saya Namikawa, Translation / Transcription

Sarah Le Baron, Translation / Transcription

Miki Yoshino, Translation / Transcription

Miki Nakai, Translation / Transcription

Kaori Mori, Translation / Transcription

Daisuke Hashimoto, Translation / Transcription

Mitsuki Nagasawa, Translation / Transcription

Géraldine Oudin, Translation / Transcription

Kaori Mori, Translation / Transcription

Akihiro Yamada, Translation / Transcription

Jihea Park, Translation / Transcription

Luisa Gioffre, Translation / Transcription

Haruka Sugimoto, Translation / Transcription

Ayumi Shimizu, Translation / Transcription

Ai Yangagida, Translation / Transcription

Hiroto Matsukuma, Translation / Transcription

Mizuki Naito, Translation / Transcription

Kenichiro Shimbo, Translation / Transcription

Rika Ano, Translation / Transcription

Maho Harada, Translation / Transcription

Ai Kimura, Translation / Transcription

Mary Moreton, Translation / Transcription

Shannon Marie Kelly, Translation / Transcription

Chris Shaeffer, Translation / Transcription

Hideyuki Kubo, Translation / Transcription

Lisa Young, Translation / Transcription

Kaori Mori, Translation / Transcription

Soji Nagano, Translation / Transcription

Joanna Lingwood, Translation / Transcription

Tom Derbish, Translation / Transcription

Willy Brister, Translation / Transcription

Justin Boley, Translation / Transcription

Allison D'Angelo, Translation / Transcription

Siham Gaiz, Translation / Transcription

Katya Knyazeva, Translation / Transcription

Ron Ture, Translation / Transcription

Nguyen Thanh Tri, Translation / Transcription

Laura Del Longo, Translation / Transcription

Caitlin Pendergras, Translation / Transcription

Phan Tai Phuong, Translation / Transcription

Grace Tai, Translation / Transcription

Ana Lakčević, Translation / Transcription

Temple University Japan Campus, Institutional Support