Aaron Woolfolk

Aaron Woolfolk (born in Oakland, California) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and playwright. 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 a limited independent release in the United States in 2010. His play Bronzeville, which he co-wrote, opened to critical acclaim in 2009 and has since enjoyed two successful revivals. Woolfolk was the recipient of an ABC Entertainment Talent Development Grant, and was later a Walt Disney Studios/ABC Entertainment Writing Fellow.

Films

Short Films

For his first film, the short Rage!, Woolfolk won a Directors Guild of America award.^[1] His short films Eki and Kuroi Hitsuji—both shot in rural Japan—won several awards, screened in international film festivals, and played on cable television.^[2] Woolfolk's short film, Nico's Sampaguita—centered around San Francisco's Fillmore Jazz District—also won a number of awards and screened in several film festivals.

Feature Films

Woolfolk's feature directorial debut, The Harimaya Bridge, which starred Danny Glover, Ben Guillory, Saki Takaoka and Misa Shimizu, won a number of awards, including Best First Time Feature Director at the Pan African Film Festival.^[3] The San Francisco Examiner named it "one of the best films of the year," while The Los Angeles Times called it "powerful" and "a unique, complex, consciousness-raising accomplishment." The film was invited to screen at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. With the film, 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. The film had a nationwide release in Japan and an independent release in the United States, and is also available on DVD and VOD via Netflix, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Xfinity, and Cinemanow.^[4]

Plays

Woolfolk collaborated with fellow playwright Tim Toyama in writing the play Bronzeville. The play was developed by The Robey Theatre Company, which produced it in association with The Los Angeles Theatre Center. Bronzeville had its world premiere on 17 April 2009 and enjoyed an extended, sold-out run. Woolfolk and Toyama received a nomination for an Ovation Award in the category Best Playwriting for an Original Play.

Other Experiences

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

Woolfolk has a deep background in music, having played violin for several years. He also played viola, piano, and flute. As a teenager he was a member of Berkeley Youth Orchestra and Young People's Symphony Orchestra. As a student at the University of California Berkeley he was a member of the University Symphony.

Education

Woolfolk is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley, where he received bachelor's degrees in Ethnic Studies and Rhetoric. He later graduated from Columbia University, where he received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film with an emphasis on directing.^[5]

Filmography

• Rage! (short film, 1997) - Directors Guild of America best student filmmaker award
• Eki (short film, 1999)
• Kuroi Hitsuji (short film, 1999)
• The Harimaya Bridge (feature film, 2009)
• Nico's Sampaguita (short film, 2012)

External links

• Aaron Woolfolk at the Internet Movie Database

References