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Tizuka Yamasaki

Known For
Directing

Known Credits
6

Gender
Female

Birthday
May 12, 1949 (77 years old)

Place of Birth
Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Tizuka Yamasaki

Biography

Tizuka Yamasaki (born May 12, 1949) is a Brazilian film director. Daughter of Japanese immigrants, Yamasaki was one of the first women filmmakers in Brazil to achieve a successful and longstanding career. She and her peers learned filmmaking by working on the sets of well-established Cinema Novo directors such as Glauber Rocha and Nelson Pereira dos Santos.

Yamasaki challenged the norms of Cinema Novo by increasing both the representation of women and the awareness of issues affecting women in Brazilian society. Her film style focuses on historical subjects and she uses the genre of melodrama to reconstruct Brazilian politics, history and culture.

She established herself as one of the most important film directors of the 1980s. Her films discussed sexuality and traditional gender roles more openly within Brazilian cultural identity. Yamasaki initiated a “cinema of emotion” to comment on Brazil’s past and rework female figures’ experiences in Brazil’s history.

During her career, especially during the final years of the Brazilian military dictatorship, Yamasaki has suffered censorship and funding issues with her films. In response to these challenges, she established her own production company in 1976, Centro de Produção e Comunicação (Production and Communication Center).

Tizuka gained some critical acclaim with her 1980 film "Gaijin, Os Caminhos da Liberdade" (aka "Gaijin, a Brazilian Odyssey"), a story about Japanese immigration to Brazil. She has also achieved the audience's praise by directing movies starring children TV show hostess Xuxa, which have become extremely popular and a cornerstone in Brazilian pop culture. In 2003, she completed Gaijin 2 as a sequel to her debut film.

Known For

Directing

2017Encantados...Director
20171817: A Revolução Esquecida...Director
2015Luz, Câmera, 50 Anos: O Pagador de Promessas - O Filme...Director
2014Tomie...Director
2012The Brazilians...Director
2010Aparecida - O Milagre...Director
2009Xuxa and the Mystery of the Little Ugly Princess...Director
2005Gaijin 2: Love Me as I Am...Director
2000Xuxa Popstar...Director
1999Xuxa Requebra...Director
1998Fica Comigo...Director
1997O Noviço Rebelde...Director
1994A Madona de Cedro...Director
1991Amazônia...Director
1990Crystal Moon...Director
1989Kananga do Japão...Director
1988The Given Word (Minisseries)...Director
1985Patriamada...Director
1983Parahyba Mulher Macho...Director
1981Cinema: Embaixador do Brasil...Director
1980Gaijin: A Brazilian Odyssey...Director

Writing

2005Gaijin 2: Love Me as I Am...Screenplay
1985Patriamada...Writer
1983Parahyba Mulher Macho...Screenplay
1980Gaijin: A Brazilian Odyssey...Writer

Production

2005Gaijin 2: Love Me as I Am...Producer
1984Bete Balanço...Executive Producer
1980The Age of the Earth...Production Director

Art

1977Tent of Miracles...Set Designer

Acting

2025Amuletoas
2023Xuxa, O Documentárioas Self
2022Lobby do Batomas Self (archive footage)
2020Candango: Memoirs from a Festivalas Self
1987No Tempo de Glauberas
Cinema da nossa genteas Entrevistada