Eastern Michigan University alum Joshua Woodcock is returning to to campus to showcase his most recent film, "One Night in Tokyo."
After being dumped by his expatriate girlfriend during his visit to her home in Tokyo, Sam, played by Reza Emamiyeh, cuts his visit short with the plan to return to America the next day. However, he finds himself in the city streets for the night. While alone, he meets Ayaka, played by Tokiko Kitagawa, who agrees to let him join her and her friends for a night out. Despite the language barrier between them, the two form a bond as they traverse Tokyo's nightlife.
"It's really about people's connections, especially at a certain time in your life when things seem new. How people connect across cultures, across language barriers, and how there's this universal language of experience," Woodcock said.
Woodcock graduated from EMU in 2007, studying Japanese language. While he always had an interest in film, it wasn't until after he had finished law school that he decided to try filmmaking full-time.
"I always liked film. I think when you're a teenager, you always dream of these big things. That was something that I always wanted to do. I think early on, I was very much like, 'Oh, I don't think I'm necessarily good enough to do things,'" Woodcock said. "I studied film for ten years before really pursuing it."
The production spanned over seven days with a small crew. Woodcock himself directed and shot the film in its entirety. When writing the script, Woodcock was heavily inspired by French New Wave films, an art film movement that emerged in the 1950s.
"It was really small-scale, and that was part of resembling the nature of French New Wave films as well — just being more experimental with how we did things," Woodcock said. "We wanted to do something small and intimate. I think intimate was a really key thing for me because of the nature of the story."
In 2024, the film won the Audience Award for a feature drama at the Cinequest San Jose Film Festival, an annual event that combines cinematic arts with Silicon Valley technology.
The film will be screened in the Student Center Auditorium on March 10, 2026, from 5-8 p.m. While it is encouraged that attendees register prior to the event, the screening will remain open to anyone. Admission is free, and members of the public outside of EMU's campus are encouraged to attend.
Woodcock also encourages students pursuing filmmaking and screenwriting to attend the Q&A portion of the event, during which he plans to discuss how Japanese language and culture inspired his work and explain his creative process and insights in global media production.
"We're not just bringing him here to show a film. He's really going to become part of our community and be our teacher for the time that he's here," said Jeffrey Bernstein, a political science professor and director of the Faculty Development Center at EMU. "I think he's going to be a really engaging speaker, and a great person for our students [and staff] to speak to."
Alongside the film, EMU faculty and staff are also encouraged to join Woodcock and the Department of World Languages for lunch with the filmmaker. At the lunch, Woodcock will discuss how Japanese language and culture can be expanded in the curriculum. To register to attend, interested faculty can fill out the form on the Bruce K. Nelson Faculty Development Center's page.
The lunch will be held March 10, 2026, from 12:30-2 p.m. in Room 109B in the Halle Library.
For more information on the premiere, interested attendees can visit the events page on EMU's website.
For those who cannot make it to the screening, "One Night in Tokyo" can be viewed for free on Tubi or purchased on YouTube and Amazon Prime Video for $4.99.
