rowmuse's blog

Roger Walch (*1965) is a Swiss born filmmaker who has been living in Kyoto (Japan) for more than 12 years. He is the head of film and video production company Rowmuse Films. After having obtained a Masters degree in Japanese Studies and Social Anthropology from the University of Zurich, he studied 16mm filmmaking with Japanese director Katsu Kanai at the Image Forum Institute in Tokyo. Roger directed his first short-film "Yuwaku 1" in 2002. "Yuwaku 2" (21 min) was nominated for the Best Picture Award at the CO2 Short-Film Festival 2005 in Osaka. The documentary film "Even a large River starts with a Drop of Water" won the Friendship Prize at the International Documentary Film Festival of the Aichi Expo 2005 in Japan and was broadcasted by Japanese and Swiss TV stations. In 2006 Roger was invited to show his video "Teahouse of a Homeless Prince" at the Festival du The (Tea Festival) in Paris, France. In 2007 he was commissioned to make a documentary about Japanese photographer Iwaki Tadao ("Timetunnel of the Heart", 30 min). Roger finished a 63 minute long narrative feature film called Tengu (starring Ted Taylor, Mimori Sento and legendary Japanese actor/singer Kan Mikami) in early 2009. Apart from being a filmmaker and film producer, Roger is a well-versed teacher of Japanese culture and a Jazz pianist. Speaking fluent Japanese, he was a part-time commentator for the Fuji TV show Nippon@World. Homepage: http://rowmusefilms.com