Sion Sono was born in Toyokawa City, Japan. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Sono made his debut as a poet at the young age of 17. His poems appeared in such publications as Eureka and The Modern Poem Book. He began making 8mm films when he enrolled at Housei University. In 1985, his 30-min short Ore wa Sono Sion da!! was screened in competition at the prestigious Pia Film Festival, and two years later, he won the Grand Prize for Otoko no Hanamichi. Consequently, he received a fellowship from Pia and then wrote, directed, and starred in a 16mm feature entitled Bicycle Sighs. The film toured the festival circuit for two years and played at more than 30 venues in Europe and Asia. In 1994, The Room won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in Tokyo, and then went on to screen at 49 festivals around the world, including Berlin and Rotterdam. While continuing to make films (such as Keiko Desukedo in 1996), Sono also staged a controversial, guerrilla performance art project called Tokyo Ga Ga Ga, which combined experimental poetry and street performance. Sono’s recent film work includes 0cm4, a short film produced by fashion designer Shinichiro Arakawa, Utsushimi a documentary/fiction hybrid feature and Suicide Club, his biggest commercial success to date which won the 2001 Fantasia Festival Grand Jury Prize for Most Groundbreaking Film. Sono’s 2006 film Noriko’s Dinner Table won a special award at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival and was critically acclaimed worldwide. Hair Extensions (2007) was also highly acclaimed and screened on the world festival circuit including Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia and Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and emerging. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
