French-Canadian Alex Paille came to Japan in 2006 to teach English, study martial arts and try his hand as a manga artist. His artistic drive took a new direction when one of his English students turned out to be internationally renowned filmmaker Sion Sono ("Cold Fish," "Love Exposure," "Suicide Club").
"We became friends, and I became his private English teacher," says Paille. "Then we started talking about films all the time. Eventually one day he just gave me a camera and told me, 'make a film with this.' "
Paille's films "Karma" and "You+Me=Love" would follow, with Sono playing an integral role in assembling casts and providing overall encouragement, though Paille finds the concept amusing.