Career

Born in Japan, Hisami was educated at Meiji Gakuin University

Meiji Gakuin University

is one of the Christian universities in Tokyo and Yokohama which was established in 1863. The Reverend Dr. James Curtis Hepburn was one of the founders and the first president...

 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 before moving to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 to pursue her career. She based herself in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where she has now been working in the film industry for over 25 years.

Her first big success came with Smoke

Smoke (film)

Smoke is an American independent film released in 1995. It was produced by Hisami Kuroiwa, Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein and directed by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster...

 in 1995, starring Harvey Keitel

Harvey Keitel

Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...

 and Forest Whitaker

Forest Whitaker

Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...

. The film won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival

Berlin International Film Festival

The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

 and introduced director Wayne Wang

Wayne Wang

Wayne Wang is a Chinese American film director.-Biography:Wang was born and raised in Hong Kong, and named after his father's favorite movie star, John Wayne...

 to the world.

In 1997 she produced Sunday, which starred Jared Harris

Jared Harris

Jared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...

 in his first major role, and went on to take $6 million at the box office despite having a very low budget.

Also in 1997 came the cult success of Bent

Bent (play)

Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives....

 starring Clive Owen

Clive Owen

Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...

, adapted from the play by Martin Sherman

Martin Sherman

Martin Sherman is an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Bent , which explores the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust...

. It won the Award of the Youth at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

.

Uncredited, Hisami has provided financing and production support for a host of other well-known directors, including Wong Kar-wai

Wong Kar-wai

Wong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...

, Jim Jarmusch

Jim Jarmusch

James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...

 and Gaspar Noe

Gaspar Noé

Gaspar Noé is an Argentine filmmaker and the son of Argentine painter and intellectual Luis Felipe Noé. He graduated from Louis Lumière College and is the visiting professor of film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland...

. Known for widespread connections in Asia (particularly Japan and Hong Kong), Europe and North America, Hisami has been instrumental in the launching of many careers, whilst simultaneously being a major patron of the photographic arts in Japan and the USA.

She is currently producing K-Michel Parandi

K-Michel Parandi

K-Michel Parandi, , is a New York based film director, screenwriter and advertising writer known as a concept oriented Creative Director....

's first feature film, Nature of April.

In addition to her work in the film world, she is on the board of advisors for Kaya, a literary publisher.

Filmography

When Pigs Fly

Blue in the Face

Blue in the Face

Blue in the Face is a 1995 comedy directed by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster. It stars Harvey Keitel, Victor Argo, Giancarlo Esposito, Roseanne Barr, Michael J. Fox, Lily Tomlin, Mira Sorvino, Lou Reed, Mel Gorham, Jim Jarmusch,and Malik Yoba....

Smoke

Smoke (film)

Smoke is an American independent film released in 1995. It was produced by Hisami Kuroiwa, Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein and directed by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster...

Flirt

Sunday

Bent

Bent (play)

Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives....