French-Canadian Alex Paille came to Japan in 2006 to teach English, study martial arts and try his hand as a manga artist. His artistic drive took a new direction when one of his English students turned out to be internationally renowned filmmaker Sion Sono ("Cold Fish," "Love Exposure," "Suicide Club").
"We became friends, and I became his private English teacher," says Paille. "Then we started talking about films all the time. Eventually one day he just gave me a camera and told me, 'make a film with this.' "
Paille's films "Karma" and "You+Me=Love" would follow, with Sono playing an integral role in assembling casts and providing overall encouragement, though Paille finds the concept amusing.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.