is a Japanese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and actor. He writes the scripts for and performs as an actor in his films, while also sometimes acting in the films of other directors.

Career

Watanabe was born in

Ōtawara 270px, View from the ruins of Ōtawara Castle is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 72,189 in 30,136 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km2. The total area of the city is ...

Tochigi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi). Tochigi ...

, and attended the Japan Institute of the Moving Image. He studied under

Daisuke Tengan is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Daisuke can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *大輔, "big, assist" *大介, "big, mediate" *大祐, "big, bless" *大助, "big, help" *大典, "big, law/rule ...

(son of Shohei Imamura) and in 2008 won the grand prize at the 9th Fuji Film Lovers Festival with his graduation film, ''A Light Pig of August''. In 2013, he formed the production company Foolish Piggies Films in Ōtawara with his brother Yūji Watanabe, who produces and composes the music for his films. His 2016 film, ''Poolsideman'', won the Japanese Cinema Splash Best Picture Award at the 29th

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

as well as the Nippon Visions Jury Award at the 2017

Nippon Connection Nippon Connection is a festival for Japanese film which takes place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, every year in early summer. The festival is organized by the nonprofit organization “Nippon Connection e.V.”. Nippon Connection has become the b ...

. In his review of ''Poolsideman'', critic

Mark Schilling Mark Schilling (born 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, translator, and author based in Tokyo, Japan. He has written for ''The Japan Times'', ''Variety'', and ''Screen International''. Biography Schilling began working for ''The Japan ...

wrote of Watanabe's early films that "Hirobumi Watanabe has created a unique cinematic world" with films "all shot in black-and-white in Watanabe’s native Tochigi Prefecture, with music by younger brother Yuji and cinematography by Woohyun Bang. All focus on socially marginalized men with lives that range from the aimless to the mundane. And all are tinged with black humor that keeps the proceedings from becoming too brain-numbingly minimalistic." Watanabe also won the Japanese Cinema Splash Best Director Award at the 32nd

in 2019 for his film ''Cry''. He was a featured director at the 2020

Far East Film Festival Far East Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Udine, Italy. It is one of the most important events promoting Asian Cinema in Europe. It focuses mainly on the films from East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which i ...

with a screening of four of his films, and also at the 2023 edition with the screening of the world premiere of ''Techno Brothers''

Filmography

* ''A Light Pig of August'' (2008) * ''Stories of Three Harbors'' (2009) (

omnibus film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

) * ''And the Mud Ship Sails Away...'' (2013) * ''Red Queen'' (2014) (as actor only) * ''7 Days'' (2015) * ''Poolsideman'' (2016) * ''Party 'Round the Globe'' (2017) * ''Life Finds a Way'' (2018) * ''Cry'' (2019) * ''Kamata Prelude'' (2020) (omnibus film) * ''I'm Really Good'' (2020) * ''Nemuru mushi'' (2020) (as actor only) * ''Techno Brothers'' (2023) * ''Blue Imagine'' (2024)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Hirobumi Japanese film directors People from Tochigi Prefecture Living people 1982 births Japanese male actors