Aaron Woolfolk

Aaron Woolfolk (born in Oakland, California) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He shot his first feature film The Harimaya Bridge in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan and San Francisco. The film had a nationwide theatrical release in Japan in the summer of 2009, and had an independent release in the United States in 2010.

For his first film, the short "Rage!" Woolfolk won a Directors Guild of America award. His short films "Eki" and "Kuroi Hitsuji" won several awards, screened in international film festivals, and played on cable television.

Woolfolk was the recipient of an ABC Talent Development Grant, and was later a Walt Disney Studios/ABC Entertainment Writing Fellow.

With "The Harimaya Bridge", Woolfolk became the first African American to make a feature film in Japan, and one of the few non-Asians to direct a movie in the Japanese film industry.

Woolfolk is a veteran of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET). He taught junior high school English in Kōchi Prefecture.

Woolfolk collaborated with playwright Tim Toyama in writing the play Bronzeville for The Robey Theatre Company, which developed the play and presented the world premiere in association with The Los Angeles Theatre Center in Los Angeles in the spring of 2009. Woolfolk and Toyama received a nomination for an Ovation Award in the category Best Playwriting for an Original Play.

Filmography

• Rage! (short film, 1997) - Directors Guild of America best student filmmaker award for short films
• Eki (short film, 1999)
• Kuroi Hitsuji (short film, 1999)
• The Harimaya Bridge (feature film, 2009)

External links

• Aaron Woolfolk at IMDb