Michael Fukushima

Michael Fukushima has been directing and producing animation films since 1984. He also taught at Concordia University for several years. On the strength of his first auteur film, Tako, Fukushima was invited to the National Film Board in 1990, where he completed the Hot Docs-winning animated documentary, Minoru: memory of exile. He's been an NFB producer since 1997.

Fukushima's credits as an NFB producer reflect the eclecticism and diversity of his own tastes, ranging from abstract animation to kids' films to documentaries, the Web, mobile phones and more. He is the creator of the Animation Hothouse, a program that is helping usher in a new generation of filmmakers to the NFB. He's particularly fond of abstract and slightly off-centre animation and is part of the movement introducing animation into new venues and to new audiences.

His notable productions include the Genie Award-winning cNote by Chris Hinton, Lillian Chan's award-winning Jaime Lo, small and shy and Shira Avni's John and Michael, a heart-rending tale of friendship and loss. Fukushima's current productions include the CG short Roots, the interactive installation and short film HA'Aki and two shorts from the mobile phone anthology Art of Seduction.