camera work was split between Tsukamoto and Kei Fujiwara, both of whom also play the roles of major characters. It was shot in black and white with expressionistic lighting, as well as some stop motion animation shots to accomplish the special effects. Parts from discarded TVs were taped onto the actors' skin to create the effect of the body transforming. Tsukamoto chose these handmade methods because he couldn't afford to do it any other way. Tetsuo: The Iron Man was filmed over 18 months, primarily in Fujiwara's apartment. By the end of the production, most of the crew had abandoned Tsukamoto because the filming conditions were so difficult. In Tom Mes's 2005 book Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto, he interviewed Tomorowo Taguchi (the only member of cast/crew who didn't live on set). He noted, "It was very tough so I quickly sensed that if you would stay with them all the time, you would inevitably get the urge to escape. So I figured that if I could keep some distance, I would be able to last much longer and keep a good relationship with them. It's true that almost every day I went there another crew member would have left. One day I arrived at the house and the lighting crew had gone, so I had to do the lighting for Tsukamoto's scenes myself. Toward the end, only the actors were still around. Nearly the entire crew had given up and left by then." Tsukamoto later admitted he had considered burning the film's negatives because the whole production had been such a bad experience. Release Tetsuo: The Iron Man struggled to find an audience until it was shown at the 1989 Fantafestival in Rome where it received the award for best film. It was screened without subtitles because the filmmakers couldn't afford to add them. The domestic film rights belong to Japan Home Video, and the film was given a limited theatrical release in Japan at the Nakano Musashino Hall in 1989. It showed mostly in late-night screenings, but had packed audiences after the success at Fantafestival. After this success in Japan, it was given a limited release in the United States by Original Cinema in 1992. It was subsequently released on VHS by Fox Lorber. The film was released twice on DVD in the United States; by Image Entertainment in 1998 and by Tartan Video in 2005.