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Kurosawa Akira (1910 - 1998)
Recipient of the 2nd Kawakita Award in 1984
Kurosawa Akira is probably the best known Japanese director to the rest of the world. His Rashomon (1950) won the Golden Lion Award at the 1951 Venice Film Festival, lifting the curtain on the international recognition of Japanese cinema. His samurai films won not only awards but also the hearts and minds of film lovers all over the world, even inspiring the birth of an entire genre – the spaghetti western.
Oshima Nagisa (1932 - )
Recipient of the 3rd Kawakita Award in 1985
A key figure in the Japanese New Wave, Oshima Nagisa got his start in film in 1954, when he entered the Shochiku Ofuna Studio as assistant director. He made his directorial debut in 1959 with A Street of Love and Hope and quickly established his reputation with his second feature The Cruel Story of Youth (1960). He went on to make such influential films as Night and Fog in Japan (1960), Violence at Noon (1966), Death by Hanging (1968), The Man Who Left his Will on Film (1970) and The Ceremony (1971), reaching widespread international recognition on the notoriety of the taboo-breaking In the Realm of the Senses (1976).
Shindo Kaneto (1912 - )
Recipient of the 14th Kawakita Award in 1996
A veteran director who made his directorial debut in 1951 with Story of a Beloved Wife, Shindo Kaneto remains active today, having directed more than 40 films and written over 200 scripts. He began his career as a scriptwriter, under the tutelage of Mizoguchi Kenji, and quickly found his own creative voice, becoming one of Japan’s most renowned filmmakers. His long tenure is especially impressive considering that he’d been working as an independent, after he left the studio system in 1950 to form the Kindai Eiga Kyokai (Modern Cinema Association) and foster a remarkably unique personal cinema.
Imamura Shohei (1926 – 2006)
Recipient of the 15th Kawakita Award in 1997
One of the most idiosyncratic and iconoclastic filmmakers in the history of world cinema, Imamura Shohei had famously declared: “I’m interested in the relationship between the lower part of the human body and the lower part of social structure on which the reality of daily Japanese life obstinately supports itself.” He made films about prostitutes, pimps, pornographers, thieves, killers and other lowlives, essaying through them “the Japanese consciousness”. Imamura had enjoyed success in commercial filmmaking as well as independent productions and television documentaries. He also established the first film school in Japan, in 1975, the Yokohama School of Film and Broadcasting, now renamed the Japan Academy of Moving Images.
Haneda Sumiko (1926 - )
Recipient of the 16th Kawakita Award in 1998
One of the pioneers in Japanese documentaries, Haneda Sumiko had directed over 90 films in a career that started in 1950, when she entered Iwanami Productions. She worked as assistant director and wrote scripts for industrial films before making her directorial debut in 1957 with Ladies’ Class in a Village. She had made award-winning documentaries on a variety of subjects, including The Cherry Tree with Gray Blossoms (1977), How to Care for the Senile (1986) and Kabuki Actor Nizaemon (1994).
Ichikawa Kon (1915 – 2008)
Recipient of the 19th Kawakita Award in 2001
Ichikawa Kon is a versatile filmmaker who had worked and excelled in many different genres, including animation, melodramas, costume films, comedies, war films and documentaries. He rose to international recognition early in his career, with such works as The Burmese Harp (1956), Conflagration (1958), Fires on the Plain (1959), An Actor’s Revenge (1963) and, perhaps his best-known, Tokyo Olympiad (1965). Yet he was able to sustain his reputation throughout his long career, with such films as Actress (1987) and The Alley Cat (2000). His last feature was a remarkable remake of The Inugami Family (2006), which he made at age 90, two years before his death. Ichikawa is known for his technical proficiency and a diversity in styles and themes, though most of his best works are marked by a touch of dark desolation infused in turn with humanity. Many of his films are co-written with his wife Wada Natto, before she passed away in 1983.
Yamada Yoji (1931 - )
Recipient of the 21st Kawakita Award in 2003
Renowned for his skills in capturing the humor, pathos and vitality of common people, Yamada Yoji is best known for his popular 48-chapter Tora-san series (1969-95), Otoko wa Tsuraiyo, often referred to as “national cinema” and in fact the longest running film series in world history. He entered the film industry in 1954 as assistant director, wrote his first script in 1958 and made his directorial debut in 1961. With over 70 films to his credit, he remains productive today, recently enjoying an even wider international regard, especially for his samurai trilogy, The Twilight Samurai (2002), The Hidden Blade (2004) and Love and Honor (2006)
Suzuki Seijun (1923 - )
Recipient of the 24th Kawakita Award in 2006
Suzuki Seijun is one of the cinema’s most distinguished iconoclasts, responsible for a body of films informed by a vision of his own. He started his career at Shochiku and then Nikkatsu, where he briefly worked as assistant director and made his directorial debut in 1956. He made 40 films at Nikkatsu, mostly B-movies in the Yakuza genre. His work became increasingly bizarre, prompting Nikkatsu to fire him in 1968 for making “incomprehensible movies.” It was at this time that Madame Kawakita's daughter Kazuko organized a retrospective of his work, establishing his reputation. Suzuki successfully sued but was blacklisted for several years, though he was able to later enjoy a productive second career in independent filmmaking, including the highly regarded Taisho Trilogy (1980-91). His cinema is marked by severely stylized images, pitch-dark humor, existentialist dialogues, impulsive sex and violence, surreal symbolisms and cavalier nihilism, often provoking extreme emotional responses from his audience. Yet there is also a serious artist behind Suzuki’s work, especially his independent films and his late works at Nikkatsu. After remaining unknown for years outside of Japan, the peculiarity of his cinema finally caught the world’s attention in the 1980s, upon which he quickly gained a cult reputation with a dedicated following.
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| Last Updated On :27-4-2009 |
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