About Midnight Eye

Midnight Eye is an entirely non-commercial, non-profit initiative created and maintained by:

Tom Mes - editor
Jasper Sharp - editor
Nicholas Rucka - U.S. correspondent
Martin Mes - design and programming

With contributions from:
Rea Amit
Michael Arnold
John Behling
Dean Bowman
Don Brown
Adam Campbell
Jonathan Clements
Andrew Cunningham
Mike Dillon
Roland Domenig
William M. Drew
Keith Fancher
Robin Gatto
Aaron Gerow
Jason Gray
Jim Harper
Bryan Hartzheim
Go Hirasawa
Paul Jackson
Alexander Jacoby
Allen Johnson
Anne McKnight
Matt Kaufman
Kimihiko Kimata
Jamie Morris
Catherine Munroe Hotes
Eija Niskanen
Abé Mark Nornes
Stefan Nutz
Magnus Riis
Kuriko Sato
Johannes Schönnherr
Tun Shwe
Chuck Stephens
Joep Vermaat (scripting and additional programming)
and Alex Zahlten

Tom Mes (editor)

Tom Mes was born in Rotterdam, Holland, in 1974. He has been active as a film critic since 1995, contributing to publications in countries that include the USA, UK, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Holland and Russia. He has provided liner notes and audio commentaries for numerous DVD releases of Japanese films around the world. He also has a background in animation as a scriptwriter and storyboard artist.
Tom is the author of the critically praised books Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike and Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto (both FAB Press) and co-author, with Jasper Sharp, of The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film (Stone Bridge Press).
He is based in Paris, France.

Jasper Sharp (editor)

Jasper Sharp was born in 1971 and raised in the rural idyll of Devon, England, though has subsequently gone on to live in Montreal, Amsterdam, Finland, and Tokyo and has traveled extensively over four different continents. As well as curating the Japanese program of London's Raindance Film Festival, his writings on film have appeared in publications all over the world, from the US and Russia to Taiwan, including Variety, SFX, Film International and 3d World. He has also worked as a computer programmer, on the Douglas Adams game Starship Titanic, and as a video editor for a UK shopping channel, where his featurette on a non-stick frying pan dazzled housewives across the nation.
Jasper Sharp is the co-author, with Tom Mes, of The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film (Stone Bridge Press). He is currently working on a book about pink films. He is based in Bath, England.

Nicholas Rucka (U.S. correspondent)

Nicholas Rucka was born in 1975 in California. A writing and directing graduate of NYU's prestigious graduate film school, he has lived in Japan, speaks fluent Japanese, and holds an additional master's degree in International Policy Studies. His writing on Japanese and other films have appeared on numerous web sites on-line and he has recently lectured on Japanese film at the Japan Society in NYC.
In June 2004, his award winning film The Mule was shown at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles as part of NYU's Haig P. Manoogian finalist screenings. A recipient of both the New York Magazine Award and the Microsoft Award for Excellence in Filmmaking, The Mule won second place at the Bronx Independent Film Festival. Additionally, the British company, Britshorts, distributes his documentary Real Doll Doctor. Nicholas has also edited for television and Alrick Brown's award winning short film The Adventures of Supernigger (as shown on IFC's reality show, Film School).
Lastly, he was a directing intern on Spike Lee's feature, She Hate Me. His homepage is: http://www.mab-pro.com.

Martin Mes (design and programming)

Martin Mes was born in Rotterdam, Holland, in 1971. He is a freelance graphic designer and interface designer. In addition to numerous web-based projects, he designed the book Agitator - The Cinema of Takashi Miike (FAB Press).
Martin is based in Rotterdam, Holland. His website can be found at: http://www.martinmes.net

Learn more about the origins of Midnight Eye from an interview with Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp.

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Midnight Eye - The latest and best in Japanese cinema.