06/18/03 (Tokyo, Japan) - Best known for her work as a voice actress for anime titles such as Vision of Escaflowne and Rahxephon and as a singer, Maaya Sakamoto will debut as a live action actress in her first non-anime short film. This film is directed by Hidenori Sugimori, famous for the recent Japanese film Mizu no Onna.

This original short film entitled 03 Cross, is the story of a mysterious girl portrayed by Sakamoto. Her character is dressed in black and forces the inner darkness out of a boy who is afraid of the color black.

Famous Japanese music composer Yoko Kanno will again work with Sakamoto to create the soundtrack for the film and the theme song. Alongside acting in the lead role of the film, Sakamoto will also perform the movie’s theme song as well.

03 Cross is scheduled to release in Japan sometime during autumn of 2003.