Shohei Imamura

Shohei Imamura (1926–2006) was a Japanese director and screenwriter, a central figure of the Japanese New Wave and one of the most earthy chroniclers of working-class Japanese life. A former assistant to Yasujirō Ozu — whose decorum he reacted against — he established himself in the 1960s with films about prostitutes, petty criminals, and rural communities, mixing fiction and documentary in unstable, anthropologically curious combinations. He is one of only a small number of directors to have won the Palme d'Or twice. His acclaimed films include Pigs and Battleships, The Insect Woman, The Pornographers, Vengeance Is Mine, The Ballad of Narayama, and The Eel.

Films in the catalogue

• Pigs and Battleships 1961 · Japan · Japanese New Wave
• The Insect Woman 1963 · Japan · Japanese New Wave
• Intentions of Murder 1964 · Japan · Japanese New Wave
• Vengeance Is Mine 1980 · Japan · Japanese New Wave
• The Ballad of Narayama 1983 · Japan · Japanese New Wave
• Black Rain 1989 · Japan · Japanese New Wave
• Warm Water Under a Red Bridge 2001 · Japan · Japanese New Wave