HALAL has made its second new signing of the month. Director and photographer, Alice Kunisue, adds her mix of comedy, fashion and music to Halal’s roster. Kunisue studied art direction in Paris and worked in graphic design, before she turned her unique vision to photography and directing.
Her four films for Hermès, and work for Google, Louboutin, Miko Miko, Nike and Aigle show off a playful and highly original visual style which brings together film, photography, painting, and animation. It also reflects her Franco-Japanese cultural background.
Kunisue was born and raised in Tokyo and gained a degree in political sciences in Montréal before moving to Paris to pursue a creative career. This kickstarted the development of her fluid style and light touch as well as the ability to switch smoothly between different mediums as well as between client projects and her personal work. Kunisue has been directing for about five years after beginning in 2017 with the music video for Aulos by Vladimir Cauchemar – a video shot entirely on an iPhone, which went viral and ended up with her making TV versions.
“Uniqueness is a gift that we all possess in principle, but only a very few really manage to tap into that special place, and Alice is one of them,” stated Levi Rijper, executive producer, HALAL
“What we at HALAL love about Alice, aside from her awesome personality and culturally diverse worldview, is her multi-disciplinary approach to her craft. Her ability to fuse and use different formats and media is extraordinary – as are the results.”
“People always say I have an immediately recognisable style – but it’s weird – I don’t see it as a style, I just see it as ‘me’ and how I express my ideas in a visual language. I have a mish-mash of lots of influences like Japanese commercials from when I was young and a quirky type of humour that’s popular in Japan. I’m also influenced by French and international movies and French literature and of course painting, having grown up in a cultural environment that spans Japan, Canada and France,” Kunisue added.
“I’m really excited to join HALAL as I love the work and the way of working that they stand for and the people are really nice. And also literally my favourite music video of recent times, Sam de Jong’s Drank en Drugs was made by HALAL, so I guess it was meant to be.”
Kunisue joining HALAL comes hot on the heels of the hiring of Egyptian directing talent, Lana Senaoui, who also joined the production house this month.
