Kiriko Mechanicus (she/her, 1995), also known as Kiri Academy, is an Amsterdam-based Dutch-Japanese documentary filmmaker, writer of fiction and non-fiction, culinary artist, photographer, full-time opinionated bitch and part-time party girl.  

Her graduation film ‘A TOMATO TRAGEDY’ (2023) won the Filmfonds Wildcard prize, and her debut film ‘HOW TO CATCH A BUTTERFLY’ (2026) will be premiering at SXSW in Austin, Texas. She directs music videos, short documentaries, 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 poem for 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.