Naomi Kawase (河瀨直美, Kawase Naomi, born May 30, 1969) is a
Japanese film director. She was also known as Naomi Sento(ä»™é
直美, SentŠNaomi), with her then-husband's surname. Many of her
works have been documentaries, including Embracing, about her search
for the father who abandoned her as a child, and Katatsumori, about
the grandmother who raised her.Growing up in the rural region of Nara,
Kawase's parents split early on in her childhood leaving her to be
raised by her great-aunt, with whom she held a combative, yet loving,
relationship. The youth she spent in Nara has had a drastic effect on
her career. Many of her first forays into filmmaking were
autobiographical, inspired heavily by the rural landscape. She
originally attended the Osaka School of Photography to study
television production and later became interested in film, deciding to
switch her focus.After graduating in 1989 from the Osaka School of
Photography (ÅŒsaka Shashin Senmon GakkÅ ) (now Visual Arts College
Osaka), where she was a student of Shunji Dodo, she spent an
additional four years there as a lecturer before releasing Embracing.
Employing her interest in autobiography, most of her first short films
focus on her turbulent family history, including her abandonment and
her father's death. She became the youngest winner of the la Caméra
d'Or award (best new director) at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for
her first 35mm film, Suzaku. She novelized her films Suzaku and
Firefly.In 2006, she released the forty-minute documentary Tarachime,
which she prefers to be screened before her film from the following
year. Tarachime revisits Kawase's relationship with her great-aunt,
tackling very personal themes such as her aunt's growing dementia.
Japanese film director. She was also known as Naomi Sento(ä»™é
直美, SentŠNaomi), with her then-husband's surname. Many of her
works have been documentaries, including Embracing, about her search
for the father who abandoned her as a child, and Katatsumori, about
the grandmother who raised her.Growing up in the rural region of Nara,
Kawase's parents split early on in her childhood leaving her to be
raised by her great-aunt, with whom she held a combative, yet loving,
relationship. The youth she spent in Nara has had a drastic effect on
her career. Many of her first forays into filmmaking were
autobiographical, inspired heavily by the rural landscape. She
originally attended the Osaka School of Photography to study
television production and later became interested in film, deciding to
switch her focus.After graduating in 1989 from the Osaka School of
Photography (ÅŒsaka Shashin Senmon GakkÅ ) (now Visual Arts College
Osaka), where she was a student of Shunji Dodo, she spent an
additional four years there as a lecturer before releasing Embracing.
Employing her interest in autobiography, most of her first short films
focus on her turbulent family history, including her abandonment and
her father's death. She became the youngest winner of the la Caméra
d'Or award (best new director) at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for
her first 35mm film, Suzaku. She novelized her films Suzaku and
Firefly.In 2006, she released the forty-minute documentary Tarachime,
which she prefers to be screened before her film from the following
year. Tarachime revisits Kawase's relationship with her great-aunt,
tackling very personal themes such as her aunt's growing dementia.
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