The Japanese film industry is one of the most antiquated in the world. Well, that seems to be the general opinion among media pundits here. Those working in film are slaves, enduring terrifically long working hours; budgets are minuscule; old-fashioned apprenticeships still reign; and women rarely get to go behind the megaphone.

"I'd rather forget that I'm a woman altogether," says director Satoko Yokohama, whose second feature film "The Actor" ("Haiyu Kameoka Takuji") opens on Jan. 30. "But then, being a woman and doing women's stuff has never interested me."

This would have been more convincing if Yokohama wasn't a petite, pretty 38-year-old with a ready smile. Closer inspection, however, reveals she's not a conventional Japanese female. She appeared at the interview in Shibuya dressed like a biker chick ("actually, I bicycled over," she says), carrying a ratty backpack. She's a smoker and had no trouble locating the smoking area, joining the salarymen who were puffing away.