Anshul Chauhan
Chauhan on the set of Bad Poetry Tokyo
Born1986 (age 37–38)
Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materRashtriya Military School, Dholpur
Occupation(s)Film director, producer, screenwriter, animator
Notable workBad Poetry Tokyo, Kontora, December
SpouseMina Moteki

Anshul Chauhan (born 1986) is an Indian film director, producer, and ex-animator in Japan. He is best known for directing films such as December (2022), Kontora (2019), and Bad Poetry Tokyo (2018).

Early life and education

Chauhan was born in Mainpuri, Agra in Northern India in 1986, one day after his grandfather had passed away.[1] His father was a "strict military man" who schooled Chauhan at a military academy in Rajasthan.[2] Chauhan went to university and studied geography.[3] He later developed an interest in animation and Japanese history after being influenced by his favourite anime, Naruto.[4]

Career

After graduating, Chauhan became an animator in 2006 and animated shows such as BBC's children's show Everything's Rosie and Disney's Tron: Uprising.[5] He was also part of the production of Delhi Safari.[6] After relocating to Tokyo in September 2011, He joined Square Enix and animated for video games such as Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III along with animating TV shows such as Transformers: Robots in Disguise.[7]

In 2016, Chauhan founded Kowatanda Films, his own production company, to start directing films.[7] Initially, he only made short films. He later went back to India to direct his first feature film with no intention to return to Japan, however, when he finished, he lost the film due to a faulty hard disk drive.[4] He later moved back to Japan and directed his first feature film, Bad Poetry Tokyo (2018), which won him the Best Narrative Feature Film at the Venice Film Week and the Grand Prix for Best Film at the Brussels Independent Film Festival.[3]

Chauhan's second feature film, Kontora (2019), was the first Japanese release to win the Grand Prix Award for Best Film at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.[8] He stated that his inspiration for Kontora was from war diaries of Japanese soldiers.[9]

In 2022, Chauhan directed his third feature film, December (2022),[10] featuring Shogen of Brillante Mendoza’s Gensan Punch.[11] December was nominated for the Kim Jiseok award at the 27th Busan International Film Festival.

Filmography

Film

As director and producer

Year Title Notes Refs.
2012 Tokyo Apple Short film
2016 Soap Short film [12]
What's Left of Us Short film
2017 Kawaguchi 4256 Short film [12]
2018 Bad Poetry Tokyo Feature film [13]
2019 Kontora Feature film [1]
2021 Leo's Return Short film [14]
2022 December Feature film [7]

As animator

Year Title Notes Refs.
2011 Lego Hero Factory: Savage Planet Animator [15]
2012 Delhi Safari Animator
Gladiators of Rome Animator
2015 Guardians of Oz Animator
2016 Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV Animator
Gantz: O Animator

Television

As animator

Year Title Notes Refs.
2007–08 Back at the Backyard Animator; 5 episodes [15]
2008 FarmKids Animator; 4 episodes
2011 Everything's Rosie Lead animator; 26 episodes
2012 Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot Animator; 26 episodes
Tron: Uprising Animator; 15 episodes
2013 Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures Animator; 11 episodes
2014–15 Tranformers: Robots in Disguise Animator; layout artist; 12 episodes
2018 Record of Grancrest War Animator; 3 episodes

Video games

Year Title Notes Refs.
2012 UFC Undisputed 3 Animator [15]
Skylanders: Giants Animator
2016 Final Fantasy XV Animator
2019 Kingdom Hearts III Animator
2020 Final Fantasy VII Remake Animator

References

  1. 1 2 Hadfield, James (18 March 2021). "Pushing against the grain of Japan's film industry". The Japan Times. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Wadhwa, Megha (18 March 2020). "An Indian take on making a Japanese film". The Japan Times. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 Aiyar, Pallavi (28 March 2020). "The Indian who made a Japanese movie". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 Kuwahara, Rika (18 June 2020). "An Indian Filmmaker Brings a Unique Perspective to Japanese Cinema". nippon.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Eagen, Daniel (20 August 2023). "An Indian director's take on Japan's courtroom reality". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Festival Scope". pro.festivalscope.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 Steen, Emma (5 April 2023). "Now showing: Anshul Chauhan's 'December' is a compelling tale about grief and retribution". Time Out Tokyo. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Brzeski, Patrick (13 February 2022). "Berlin: Japan-Based Filmmaker Anshul Chauhan Preps Court Room Drama 'December'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Jason, Genki (15 July 2020). "Interview with Kontora Director Anshul Chauhan [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2020]". Genkinahito. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Pryor, VN (6 August 2023). "NYAFF 2023: Interview With Anshul Chauhan, Director of DECEMBER". cinapse.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Hopewell, John (28 April 2022). "'Gensan Punch' Star, Producer Reteam with SC Films for 'December' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  12. 1 2 Kotzathanasis, Panos (18 May 2020). "Interview with Anshul Chauhan: I think people tend to mistake love for romance". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Schilling, Mark (16 January 2020). "'Bad Poetry Tokyo': Indian director's first feature reveals major talent". The Japan Times. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Kotzathanasis, Panos (21 August 2021). "Short Film Review: Leo's Return (2021) by Anshul Chauhan". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 "Anshul Chauhan | Director, Producer, Animation Department". IMDb. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
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