---
name: "Ema Ryan Yamazaki"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ema-ryan-yamazaki"
fi1m_id: "ema-ryan-yamazaki"
imdb_id: "nm3655292"
tmdb_id: 1573201
wikidata_id: "Q130386970"
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "1 January 1989"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-03T03:21:29.952128+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ema Ryan Yamazaki

## Identity

Ema Ryan Yamazaki

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ema-ryan-yamazaki
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ema-ryan-yamazaki
- **IMDb ID:** nm3655292
- **TMDB ID:** 1573201
- **Wikidata ID:** Q130386970
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ema_Ryan_Yamazaki, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130386970, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3655292/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1573201

Producer. Born 1 January 1989 in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 1 January 1989, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
- **Active:** 2024–present
- **Also known as:** Ema Ryan, Ema Ryan-Yamazaki, Ema Yamazaki
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 producing, 1 crew
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ema_Ryan_Yamazaki, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130386970, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3655292/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1573201

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Black Box Diaries*](https://film.one/film/black-box-diaries.md) (82)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Ema Ryan Yamazaki is a Japanese-British documentary filmmaker and editor. Born in 1989 in Kobe, Japan, she grew up near Osaka and studied documentary filmmaking and editing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. After graduating, she worked as an assistant editor to Sam Pollard.

She has directed feature documentaries including *Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators* (2017), *Koshien: Japan's Field of Dreams* (2019) and *The Making of a Japanese* (2023). As an editor, her credits include *Black Box Diaries* (2024) and *American Doctor* (2026). Her short film *Instruments of a Beating Heart* (2024) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short Film.

Yamazaki is married to producer Eric Nyari and is based in Tokyo. She has also edited earlier projects such as CNN’s *Chicagoland* (2014) and HBO’s *Class Divide* (2015).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, emaexplorations.com, businessdoceurope.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

### Produced (1) — the average rests on these

- *Black Box Diaries* (2024), Fi1m 82, Editor, Co-Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/black-box-diaries.md)

### Crew (1)

- *American Doctor* (2026), Fi1m 80, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/american-doctor.md)

## Complete filmography (14)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *American Doctor* (2026), Editor — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/american-doctor.md)
- *Black Box Diaries* (2024), Editor, Co-Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/black-box-diaries.md)
- *Happyend* (2024), Executive Producer
- *Instruments of a Beating Heart* (2024), Director
- *The Making of a Japanese* (2024), Director, Editor
- *Temple Family* (2021), Director
- *Wheels of Fate: The Story of the Rickshaw Man* (2020), Director
- *Koshien: Japan's Field of Dreams* (2019), Director, Editor
- *Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators* (2017), Writer, Director, Editor
- *Class Divide* (2016), Producer, Editor
- *A New Man* (2014), Editor
- *Monk by Blood* (2013), Director
- *Bombshell* (2013), Editor
- *Ang Alamat ng Lawin* (2002), Actor

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2025: Best Documentary (Short Subject) (nominated), for *Instruments of a Beating Heart*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ema-ryan-yamazaki