Shohei Imamura

Films in our catalogue

Biography

Shohei Imamura was born in Tokyo on September 1926. His father was a doctor. At the end of the war, Imamura began his studies at the University of Waseda where he spent five years learning western history. His interests at school also centered around theatre. Writing his own plays, the actors who worked with him then would later appear in his films like Shoichi Ozawa, Kazuo Kitamura, Takeshi Kato. In 1951, he began working at the Shochiku Studios as assistant director to Yasujiro Ozu, Masaki Kobayashi and Yoshitaro Normura. In 1954, he switched studios, joining Nikkatsu Studios where he became Yuzo Kawashima's co-writer and assistant of So Yamamura and Kinuyo Tanaka. In 1958, Imamura directed his first film: Stolen Desire. In 1965, Imamura boldy created his own production company assuring his place as one of the pioneers of Japanese independent films. In 1975, he created "The Cinema and Television Institute of Yokohama"ª which became "The Japanese Academy of Visuals Arts