Kiriko Mechanicus
Kiriko Mechanicus, also known as Kiri Academy, is an Amsterdam-based Dutch-Japanese documentary filmmaker, writer of fiction and non-fiction, culinary artist, photographer, host, full-time opinionated bitch and part-time party girl.
Her graduation film ‘A TOMATO TRAGEDY’ (2023) won the Filmfonds Wildcard prize. Her debut film ‘HOW TO CATCH A BUTTERFLY’ (2026) premiered at South by South West in Austin, Texas and won the award of best international short film at Millenium Docs against Gravity (Warsaw), IndieLisboa (Portugal) and best national short at LeidenShorts. She directs music videos, short documentaries, television documentaires, experimental videos and babbles about cinema endlessly (publicly). Kiriko often writes for various literary publications such as Vice magazine or Hard//Hoofd. She was once even asked to write a poemfor the visit of Italian president Mattarella at the 30-year anniversary of the European Union in the Netherlands. Occasionally, miss Mechanicus appears on the tellie or in a news-pa-per. She says yes to everything, especially things that she hasn’t done before.
Meet the other hosts
About the show →
Laura Gommans is a film journalist and the host of Celebrating Cinema.
Hugo Emmerzael is an Amsterdam-based film critic, public speaker and curator with over a decade of experience at the intersection of cinema, music and culture at large.
Tom Ooms is Head of Cinema at LAB111, where he leads the programming, and runs its sister distribution company Odyssey Classics, releasing classic cinema.