May 30, 1969 - Nara, Japan
Naomi Kawase (河瀨直美 Kawase Naomi, born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director. She graduated from Visual Arts Osaka in 1989. 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. Aside from being a filmmaker, she is the founder and Executive Director for the Nara International Film Festival.
Media | ||||
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| Movie | 1998 | Love & Pop | Woman speaking to Hiromi (voice) | |
| Movie | 2003 | Shara | Reiko | |
| Movie | 2011 | Destroy Vicious | ||
| Movie | 2013 | Shining Besides Funny Moon | ||
| Movie | 2001 | Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth | Self | |
| Movie | 1992 | Embracing | Self | |
| Movie | 2002 | Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom | Self | |
| Movie | 2012 | Trace | Self | |
| Movie | 1995 | See Heaven | Self | |
| Movie | 2013 | The Tale of Iya | Dr. Amamiya | |
| Movie | 2021 | Missing Pictures | Self | |
| Movie | 2006 | Birth/Mother | Self | |
| Movie | 1995 | Memory of the Wind | Herself | |
| Movie | 2020 | It Stopped Raining | Koyomi's Mother | |
| Movie | 1996 | Sun on the Horizon | ||
| Movie | 1994 | Katatsumori | Self | |
| Movie | 2014 | Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women | Self | |
| Movie | 2016 | Amami | Self | |
| Movie | N/A | Emergency Exit | ||
| Movie | 2025 | The Wolf, the Fox, and the Leopard | ||
| Movie | 1999 | Kaleidoscope | Self | |
| TV Show | 2021 | What Kento Nakajima Wants to Know About Movies Now | 1 | |
| TV Show | 1998 | Welcome Back For An Extracurricular Lesson, Sempai | Self | 1 |
Media | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movie | 2007 | The Mourning Forest | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2007 | The Mourning Forest | Screenplay | Writing |
| Movie | 2007 | The Mourning Forest | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2003 | Shara | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2003 | Shara | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 1997 | Suzaku | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1997 | Suzaku | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2021 | To The Future | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2021 | To The Future | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2021 | To The Future | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 2012 | Hanezu | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2012 | Hanezu | Screenplay | Writing |
| Movie | 2010 | Genpin | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2009 | Visitors | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2019 | The Nikaidos' Fall | Executive Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2012 | Inori | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2012 | Trace | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2009 | Visitors | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2023 | echo | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1999 | Kaleidoscope | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2006 | Birth/Mother | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2001 | Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1998 | The Weald | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2008 | Nanayo | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1992 | Embracing | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1995 | See Heaven | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1994 | Katatsumori | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2002 | Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2022 | Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Side B | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2014 | Still the Water | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2014 | Still the Water | Screenplay | Writing |
| Movie | 2009 | Koma | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2001 | Firefly | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2001 | Firefly | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2015 | A Midsummer's Fantasia | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2015 | Sweet Bean | Screenplay | Writing |
| Movie | 2015 | Sweet Bean | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2009 | Cinematic Correspondences: Isaki Lacuesta - Naomi Kawase | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2009 | Cinematic Correspondences: Isaki Lacuesta - Naomi Kawase | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2009 | Cinematic Correspondences: Isaki Lacuesta - Naomi Kawase | Cinematography | Crew |
| Movie | 2018 | Cinema Fighters | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1996 | Sun on the Horizon | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1996 | Sun on the Horizon | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 1994 | Katatsumori | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 1994 | Katatsumori | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 1994 | Katatsumori | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2022 | Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Side A | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2009 | Haiku | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2014 | Still the Water | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2018 | The Moon | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2018 | The Moon | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2018 | Cinema Fighters | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2012 | Hanezu | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2016 | Seed | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2016 | Seed | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2011 | 3.11 A Sense of Home Films | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1994 | Katatsumori | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2006 | Birth/Mother | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 1995 | Memory of the Wind | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1996 | This World (A Correspondence Between Naomi Kawase and Hirokazu Koreeda) | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2016 | Lies | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1989 | Presently, | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1990 | The Girls' Daily Bread | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1988 | Papa's Ice Cream | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1989 | My Sole Family | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1988 | My J-W-F | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1988 | The Concretization of These Things Flying Around Me | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1988 | I Focus on That Which Interests Me | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1989 | A Small Largeness | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1991 | Like Happiness | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2012 | Hikaru Utada: Sakura Nagashi | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2001 | Firefly | Music | Sound |
| Movie | 2001 | Firefly | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2001 | Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2001 | Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2023 | Beyond the Fog | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2017 | Where Does the Sand Go? | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2017 | Where Does the Sand Go? | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2017 | Radiance | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2017 | Radiance | Screenplay | Writing |
| Movie | 2008 | Nanayo | Screenplay | Writing |
| Movie | 2018 | Vision | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2014 | Still the Water | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2018 | Vision | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2018 | Vision | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 1998 | The Weald | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2015 | Sweet Bean | Associate Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2012 | Hanezu | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 2012 | Hanezu | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 1993 | White Moon | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2010 | Genpin | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2010 | Genpin | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2018 | Parallel World | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2008 | Nanayo | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 2008 | Nanayo | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2020 | True Mothers | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2021 | Tracing Her Shadow | Executive Producer | Production |
| Movie | 1992 | Embracing | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 1992 | Embracing | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 1992 | Embracing | Sound Recordist | Sound |
| Movie | 1992 | Embracing | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 1998 | The Weald | Producer | Production |
| Movie | 1998 | The Weald | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 1998 | The Weald | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 2020 | True Mothers | Screenplay | Writing |
| Movie | 2011 | 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2001 | Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 2016 | Amami | Director | Directing |
| Movie | N/A | Untitled Naomi Kawase Film | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 2026 | Yakushima's Illusion | Director | Directing |
| Movie | 1999 | Kaleidoscope | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 1999 | Kaleidoscope | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 1999 | Kaleidoscope | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 1992 | Embracing | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2002 | Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2002 | Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2002 | Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom | Director of Photography | Camera |
| Movie | 2012 | Trace | Writer | Writing |
| Movie | 2012 | Trace | Editor | Editing |
| Movie | 2012 | Trace | Director of Photography | Camera |
| TV Show | 2020 | Homemade | Director | Directing |
