Choi Yang-Il

Choi Yang-il (also known as Yōichi Sai, 1949–2022) was a Korean-Japanese director and screenwriter, one of the most prominent figures of Zainichi (ethnic Korean Japanese) cinema. He began his career in the 1970s as a lighting and assistant director, famously collaborating with legendary filmmaker Nagisa Oshima on the controversial 1976 film In the Realm of the Senses. He made his own directorial debut in 1983 with Mosquito on the Tenth Floor. He worked across Japanese popular and art cinema for several decades and tackled subjects ranging from the experience of Korean residents in Japan to commercial Japanese genre. His acclaimed films include All Under the Moon, Marks, Doing Time, Blood and Bones, Soo, and Mosquito on the Tenth Floor. As an actor, he was widely recognized for portraying Commander Isami Kondo alongside Takeshi Kitano in Nagisa Oshima's final historical film, Taboo (1999).