Naomi Kawase

Naomi Kawase (b. 1969, Nara, Japan) shot 8 mm and 16 mm movies while studying at the Osaka School of Photography, and she used her internationally acclaimed early works as a means of coming to terms with having been raised by her grandparents. At the 1997 Cannes IFF she became the youngest winner of the Camera d’Or award for her feature debut Suzaku (Moe no suzaku), which also screened at Karlovy Vary. Firefly (Hotaru, 2000) was awarded at the festival in Locarno. The mysterious drama The Mourning Forest (Mogari no mori, 2007) took the Jury Grand Prix at the Cannes IFF and was screened at KVIFF as well. Kawase is also recognized for her documentary work: The Weald (Somaudu monogatari) was presented in competition at KVIFF 1998, and Genpin (2010) took the FIPRESCI Prize at the festival in San Sebastian. Kawase competed with the film Hanezu at this year’s Cannes IFF.

46. IFF Karlovy Vary