By Josh Bate & George Bate
George Lucas was inspired by the works of legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa in crafting the vast Star Wars universe. In recent years, Star Wars has came full circle by embracing its Kurosawa and Japanese influences with Star Wars: Visions, the acclaimed anthology series that featured nine shorts from nine different Japanese animation studios in its first volume. Now, Visions is influencing a talented filmmaker who is exploring the intersection of Star Wars and Kurosawa samurai epic with his new short film Shin Jedi.
Toru Uchikado, whose prior work includes Heroes: Reborn, Westworld, and Castlevania is the writer, director, producer, and co-star of a visually stunning short film in which a Jedi master and apprentice try to recruit a samurai to the Jedi Order. Check out the short film below:
The HoloFiles and Star Wars Holocron had the opportunity to interview Toru Uchikado and the short film’s visual effects supervisor Edward Fanning to discuss their Samurai vs. Jedi project, it’s Star Wars: Visions influences, advice on making your own Star Wars fan film, and more. Watch the interview below:
For those curious to dive deeper into Shin Jedi, Uchikado also produced a behind the scenes feature, which further details the thought and efforts that went into the impressive short film.
