MOSCOW — Flying Carp Productions, a San Francisco-based film company, announced that its latest documentary, “Mrs. Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful,” has received the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the 2013 International Festival of Sports Movies in Russia.
The award-winning documentary, directed and produced by Yuriko Gamo Romer, had its international premiere in Moscow. Romer and her producer, Marc Smolowitz, attended the festival and received the award at a ceremony on April 4 at the Illusion Theatre.
“Mrs. Judo” tells the unique life story of Keiko Fukuda, a world-renowned judo master who was the highest-ranking female in the history of the sport. She passed away in San Francisco on Feb. 9 at the age of 99. She would have turned 100 on April 12. Her life was memorialized in obituaries in the world’s most prominent media outlets, including The New York Times.
Stas Tomski, general manager of the International Festival of Sports Movies, called the documentary “a moving testament to the legacy of one of the world’s most important sports figures, Keiko Fukuda … Members of our 2013 international jury found Mrs. Romer’s film to be one of the highest quality cinematic selections in this year’s competition, and we’re very pleased to honor Fukuda’s life and memory with the 2013 Best Documentary Award.”
“Mrs. Judo” has screened in 15 film festivals around the U.S., including the prestigious Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, the Guam International Film Festival, and the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (now known as CAAMFest), where the film had its world premiere in 2012.
All worldwide rights for “Mrs. Judo” are currently available, except in the U.S., where distribution is being handled by Center for Asian American Media in San Francisco.
For more information, visit www.mrsjudomovie.com/.
