Claude Gagnon

Claude Gagnon is a Canadian filmmaker and actor, who frequently works in both Canada and Japan.

Early life

A Quebec native, Gagnon first came to Japan in 1970 as photojournalist covering Expo '70 in Osaka. He met his wife, ballerina-turned-filmmaker Yuri Yoshimura, whom he married in 1973.

"My original plan was to spend six months in Japan, and then to go to Indonesia before heading to Europe. I thought I’d do my little trip like everyone else did in those days. But after six months I still didn’t understand a thing. There were very few foreigners living in Japan in those days, and I remember that if you saw a Westerner in Kyoto, you’d crossed the road to say hi and trade phone numbers. It was the era of “Peace and Love”‒‒euphoric and stimulating."

Career

Gagnon's introduction to the film industry was as an actor, notably playing a villain in the Sonny Chiba martial arts film Return of the Street Fighter.
He made his directorial debut with 1979's Keiko, a neorealist-inspired lesbian-themed drama. The film was a popular success and earned Gagnon the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award, the first foreign-born filmmaker to do so.