# Josef Kubota Wladyka
**Josef Kubota Wladyka** (born 1981) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer based in New York City, known for the feature films *Manos Sucias* (2014), *Catch the Fair One* (2021), and *[Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!](https://www.edgepedia.org/ha-chan-shake-your-booty)* (2026) and for directing episodes of series including *Narcos*, *The Terror*, *Tokyo Vice*, and *One Piece*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129610) Born in [Fairfax, Virginia](https://www.edgepedia.org/fairfax-virginia), to a Japanese mother and a Polish father, he is the youngest of three brothers and was raised by his single mother, a ballroom dancer and cinephile whose life inspired his third feature.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129610) • [2](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-cast-director-interview/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1981, Fairfax, Virginia; of Japanese and Polish descent[3](https://www.proimagenescolombia.com/secciones/cine_colombiano/perfiles/perfil_persona.php?id_perfil=3984&lang=es) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129610) |
| Education | MFA in film from New York University's graduate film program; recipient of the Spike Lee Fellowship Award[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129610) • [4](https://entertainment.ie/person/josef-kubota-wladyka/) |
| Feature debut | *Manos Sucias* (2014), set on Colombia's Pacific coast; won Best New Narrative Director at the Tribeca Film Festival[5](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2014/07/22/josef-kubota-wladyka-1/) |
| Second feature | *Catch the Fair One* (2021), starring boxer Kali Reis; Independent Spirit Award nominations for the film and for Reis as Best Actress[6](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/02/22/director-josef-kubota-wladyka-and-independent-spirit-award-nominee-kali-reis-on-co-creating-catch-the-fair-one/) |
| Television work | Episodes of *Narcos* (5), *Tokyo Vice* (8), *The Terror* (2), *Narcos: Mexico* (2), *Fear the Walking Dead*, *Outcast*, *Animal Kingdom*, and *One Piece* (3)[7](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/220331/josef-kubota-wladyka) |
| Third feature | *Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!* (2026), which won the Directing Award, U.S. Dramatic, at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics[8](https://apnews.com/article/6bc6ac4570e2c32fab081b888ce63fc1) • [2](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-cast-director-interview/) |
## Early life and education
Wladyka grew up in [Northern Virginia](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-virginia) near Washington, DC, raised by his Japanese mother after his father, from whom he was estranged, left the family; his father died in 2010.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129610) • [5](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2014/07/22/josef-kubota-wladyka-1/) His mother's devotion to ballroom dancing, photography, and cinema shaped him: she took her three sons to the movies regularly, and he has said his love of film comes from her.[3](https://www.proimagenescolombia.com/secciones/cine_colombiano/perfiles/perfil_persona.php?id_perfil=3984&lang=es) • [2](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-cast-director-interview/) He began experimenting with filmmaking in high school, when an English teacher let him make a film instead of turning in an essay.[4](https://entertainment.ie/person/josef-kubota-wladyka/) • [9](https://fest26-wp.festival.sundance.org/blogs/give-me-the-backstory-get-to-know-josef-kubota-wladyka-the-director-behind-ha-chan-shake-your-booty/)
He studied business at [James Madison University](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-madison-university), then applied only to NYU's graduate film program, which he entered after backpacking through Ecuador and Colombia.[3](https://www.proimagenescolombia.com/secciones/cine_colombiano/perfiles/perfil_persona.php?id_perfil=3984&lang=es) • [10](https://bulletproofscreenwriting.tv/josef-kubota-wladyka/) At NYU he studied directing under [Spike Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-lee), who gave him a grant for his thesis and later championed and executive produced his first feature.[5](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2014/07/22/josef-kubota-wladyka-1/) Before film school he had made more than ten short films, including *The Rebel* (2006), *Huey* (2008), *Klaudia* (2009), *Gary*, and *Solidarity*, which screened at festivals worldwide.[3](https://www.proimagenescolombia.com/secciones/cine_colombiano/perfiles/perfil_persona.php?id_perfil=3984&lang=es) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129610)
## Manos Sucias (2014)
Wladyka's feature debut, *Manos Sucias* (Spanish for "Dirty Hands"), is a drama about nineteen-year-old Delio and older fisherman Jacobo towing a torpedo full of drugs up the Pacific coast of Colombia from Buenaventura, encountering racism, paramilitary violence, and the drug trade's daily grip on the region.[5](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2014/07/22/josef-kubota-wladyka-1/) The film grew from research trips he began before starting at NYU: in February 2010 he traveled with Kelly Morales, a friend from Tumaco, to the port cities of Buenaventura and Tumaco, collecting stories from Afro-Colombian fishing communities.[3](https://www.proimagenescolombia.com/secciones/cine_colombiano/perfiles/perfil_persona.php?id_perfil=3984&lang=es) He shot on boats with nonprofessional actors from Buenaventura, ran filmmaking workshops with the community during pre-production, and featured the city's local music.[5](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2014/07/22/josef-kubota-wladyka-1/)
At the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival the film won Best New Narrative Director and a Special Jury Award, and it later collected nominations including the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (2016), a Coral award for Best Artistic Contribution at Havana (2015), and Premios Macondo nominations for Best Film and Best Screenplay.[11](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/josef-kubota-wladyka/bio/3030886860/)
## Catch the Fair One (2021)
His second feature, *Catch the Fair One*, is a dark thriller about Kaylee, a former Native American boxer who deliberately enters the world of sex trafficking to find her missing sister.[6](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/02/22/director-josef-kubota-wladyka-and-independent-spirit-award-nominee-kali-reis-on-co-creating-catch-the-fair-one/) • [12](https://blog.laemmle.com/2026/09/josef-kubota-wladyka-ha-chan-shake-your-booty/) Wladyka found his lead not in an audition but in a boxing gym: professional world champion boxer [Kali Reis](https://www.edgepedia.org/kali-reis), whose activism around missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW) became the heart of the story. The two developed the script together over roughly two years, and Reis earned a surprise Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress; the film received multiple Independent Spirit Award nominations and was produced by [Darren Aronofsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/darren-aronofsky)'s company Protozoa, with Aronofsky contributing script and editing notes.[6](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/02/22/director-josef-kubota-wladyka-and-independent-spirit-award-nominee-kali-reis-on-co-creating-catch-the-fair-one/) It won Audience Award prizes at festivals in 2021.[11](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/josef-kubota-wladyka/bio/3030886860/)
## Television directing
Television work paid the bills between independent features and built his reputation as an episodic director.[6](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/02/22/director-josef-kubota-wladyka-and-independent-spirit-award-nominee-kali-reis-on-co-creating-catch-the-fair-one/) His episode credits include five episodes of *Narcos* (2016 to 2017), two episodes of *Narcos: Mexico* including the 2018 premiere "Camelot", two episodes of *The Terror: Infamy* (2019, where he was also a co-executive producer), single episodes of *Outcast*, *Animal Kingdom*, and *Fear the Walking Dead* (2017), and eight episodes of *Tokyo Vice* (2022 to 2024), where he was also co-executive producer.[7](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/220331/josef-kubota-wladyka) He has also directed three episodes of Netflix's *[One Piece](https://www.edgepedia.org/one-piece-2023-tv-series)* live-action series, including the season one finale "Worst in the East" (2023) and an episode of the second season.[7](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/220331/josef-kubota-wladyka)
## Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! (2026)
His third feature, *Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!*, premiered in the U.S. Dramatic [Competition](https://www.edgepedia.org/competition) at the 2026 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) and won the festival's Directing Award, U.S. Dramatic.[9](https://fest26-wp.festival.sundance.org/blogs/give-me-the-backstory-get-to-know-josef-kubota-wladyka-the-director-behind-ha-chan-shake-your-booty/) • [8](https://apnews.com/article/6bc6ac4570e2c32fab081b888ce63fc1) [Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures-classics) acquired the film a week after its January premiere and released it in theaters in September 2026.[2](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-cast-director-interview/)
The film is a cross-cultural dance dramedy set in Tokyo's ballroom dancing scene, starring Oscar nominee [Rinko Kikuchi](https://www.edgepedia.org/rinko-kikuchi) as Haru, a widow who returns to dance after loss and develops feelings for her new instructor, Fedir, played by Alberto Guerra; the cast also includes Alejandro Edda, and characters move among English, Spanish, and Japanese.[2](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-cast-director-interview/) • [13](https://www.publicradioeast.org/2026-09-26/josef-kubota-wladyka-discusses-his-new-film-ha-chan-shake-your-booty?_amp=true) Wladyka co-wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Huynh, and the story is an homage to his own mother, a competitive ballroom dancer in her eighties who raised three boys alone; Kikuchi studied videos of Wladyka's mother for her mannerisms.[14](https://fest26-wp.festival.sundance.org/blogs/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-encourages-us-to-keep-dancing/) • [2](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-cast-director-interview/)
## Working style and recognition
Wladyka has described himself as an independent filmmaker at heart who builds films around real people and underrepresented communities: Afro-Colombian fishermen in *Manos Sucias*, a Native American boxer confronting the MMIW crisis in *Catch the Fair One*, and a Japanese ballroom dancer in *Ha-Chan*.[5](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2014/07/22/josef-kubota-wladyka-1/) • [6](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/02/22/director-josef-kubota-wladyka-and-independent-spirit-award-nominee-kali-reis-on-co-creating-catch-the-fair-one/) He has said that more than 70 percent of the *Ha-Chan* cast were actors he had worked with before on television, and he funds his features through episodic television directing.[9](https://fest26-wp.festival.sundance.org/blogs/give-me-the-backstory-get-to-know-josef-kubota-wladyka-the-director-behind-ha-chan-shake-your-booty/) • [6](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/02/22/director-josef-kubota-wladyka-and-independent-spirit-award-nominee-kali-reis-on-co-creating-catch-the-fair-one/) Across his career he has accumulated six wins and fourteen nominations, with his features praised by critics; *Catch the Fair One* stands at 93 percent on the Tomatometer and *Manos Sucias* at 92 percent.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129610) • [15](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/josef_kubota_wladyka_2)
## References
1. [Josef Kubota Wladyka, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129610)
2. [Why a Thriller Filmmaker Made a Cross-Cultural Dancing Dramedy with 'Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!', TheWrap (September 25, 2026)](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-cast-director-interview/)
3. [Perfiles: Josef Kubota Wladyka, Proimágenes Colombia](https://www.proimagenescolombia.com/secciones/cine_colombiano/perfiles/perfil_persona.php?id_perfil=3984&lang=es)
4. [Josef Kubota Wladyka, Entertainment.ie](https://entertainment.ie/person/josef-kubota-wladyka/)
5. [Josef Kubota Wladyka interview, BOMB Magazine (July 22, 2014)](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2014/07/22/josef-kubota-wladyka-1/)
6. [Director Josef Kubota Wladyka and Kali Reis on Co-creating 'Catch The Fair One', Awards Daily (February 22, 2022)](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2022/02/22/director-josef-kubota-wladyka-and-independent-spirit-award-nominee-kali-reis-on-co-creating-catch-the-fair-one/)
7. [Josef Kubota Wladyka, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/220331/josef-kubota-wladyka)
8. [Sundance Film Festival: Channing Tatum drama 'Josephine' wins top jury and audience awards, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/6bc6ac4570e2c32fab081b888ce63fc1)
9. [Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Josef Kubota Wladyka, Sundance Film Festival (January 13, 2026)](https://fest26-wp.festival.sundance.org/blogs/give-me-the-backstory-get-to-know-josef-kubota-wladyka-the-director-behind-ha-chan-shake-your-booty/)
10. [BPS 389: From Short Films to Narcos with Josef Kubota Wladyka, Bulletproof Screenwriting](https://bulletproofscreenwriting.tv/josef-kubota-wladyka/)
11. [Josef Kubota Wladyka Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/josef-kubota-wladyka/bio/3030886860/)
12. [Josef Kubota Wladyka's 'Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!' Blends Love, Dance, and Grief, Laemmle blog (September 23, 2026)](https://blog.laemmle.com/2026/09/josef-kubota-wladyka-ha-chan-shake-your-booty/)
13. [Josef Kubota Wladyka discusses his new film, 'Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!', NPR via Public Radio East (September 26, 2026)](https://www.publicradioeast.org/2026-09-26/josef-kubota-wladyka-discusses-his-new-film-ha-chan-shake-your-booty?_amp=true)
14. [“Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!” Encourages Us to Keep Dancing | Sundance Film Festival](https://fest26-wp.festival.sundance.org/blogs/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-encourages-us-to-keep-dancing/)
15. [Josef Kubota Wladyka, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/josef_kubota_wladyka_2)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors › Directors of the United States and Canada › Television directors › Live-action scripted television directors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license