Storytelling—Noh, Films and AI

Storytelling is going through a fascinating turning point with AI. It’s used to help write books, create videos based on text prompts, and even viral songs, forcing creators like filmmakers and designers to evolve and adapt.

Soraya Umewaka has been storytelling in many forms from live theatre and film to online content. Her first stage appearance was at the age of three at the National Noh Theater. Noh theater (the oldest theatre form in Japan) has been passed down from father to son in her father’s family for over 600 years. She is an award-winning filmmaker who started her career making documentaries in Ecuador, Brazil, Lebanon, and Japan. She also knows cutting-edge technology, having worked for companies like Google. She saw that the future of video content was online and worked at the YouTube Space in Tokyo designing production programs for YouTube creators.

How is the art of storytelling changing? How does Soraya see the future of film and social media? What tools will we use to express ourselves? From Soraya’s vast experiences, she will share with us her first-hand observation on each medium’s unique storytelling style and how it has changed the engagement of the audiences. She will also share common principles of storytelling observed across diverse mediums—Noh theater, feature-length documentaries, and YouTube videos.

Please join us to explore these topics and other questions related to storytelling in diverse mediums.

Event and Registration Details

• This event will be conducted in in-person and online, and registration is required.
• In-person participation is for members and guests only. Please pay your fee by credit card (Visa or Mastercard only) or at the door.
• Online participation is open to the public and free.

Speaker Bio

Soraya Umewaka is a Noh actress, documentary filmmaker, playwright, theatre director, and CEO & co-founder of Matchhat, an online web app connecting creators so they can find collaborators for their passion projects. Born to a Noh family, she first performed at the National Noh Theater when she was three years old.

She has made documentaries in Ecuador, Brazil, Lebanon, and Japan often focusing on creative cultures in hardship environments, which have been showcased at international film festivals, such as the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival. She directed a multi-media production called “Hell Says Noh” performed at Panasonic Center Tokyo in collaboration with the Brazilian government in 2019. She directed a contemporary Noh production called “Moonlight Dance” in collaboration with Toraya Confectionery in 2022.

She is a graduate of Princeton University with a degree in comparative politics.