Kio Shijiki

Kio started as an actor at the age of 15 at an avant-garde theatre company in Japan. She moved to New York at the age of 18. She holds B.A. in Theatre Arts from Marymount Manhattan College and M.F.A. in Film Directing from Columbia University, School of the Arts. Her first directorial film "Eureka" (2015) has received The Best Indie Drama Award at Top Shorts Film Festival, Jury Prize at Around Films Film Festival in Berlin, and was included in the official selection in Portland Film Festival and The World's Independent Film Festival in San Francisco. "Patisotam"(2020) was premiered at Short Shorts International Film Festival and had its international premiere in PÖFF Shorts. Patisotam was also selected for Market Picks at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and had a U.S. premiere at CINEQUEST. As a part of DIVOC-12, a film project by SONY Entertainment Japan, Kio wrote and directed "RUMIN" (2021), which was screened nationally in Japan and is now available streaming at U-NEXT. She also has joined multiple advertising campaigns that support social causes and feminism in Asia such as NIKE JAPAN's "Just Do It" and Stella Artois Korea's "Become an Icon" campaigns.