South African director Mandla Dube(Kalushi (2016, now on Netflix) at Akira Kurosawa’s grave at An’yō-in Temple, in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Mandla was in Japan to do research and logistical planing for his film on Yasuke, the 16th century African warrior who became the first non-Japanese Samurai.
He has partnered with Floyd Webb(assoc producer, Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust) of e22.creative in Chicago to help with research on 16th century East African city states and the Spice Trade, and Deborah DeSnoo(Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire, PBS) of Plugin Productions in Tokyo to assist with research on the Sengoku era and logistical support in Japan.
