Nobuhiro Suwa (諏訪 敦彦, Suwa Nobuhiro, born May 28, 1960 in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture) is a Japanese film director working in Japan and France. His directorial works and screenplays often make use of improvisation techniques. Currently, Suwa is the President of Tokyo Zokei University.
Nobuhiro Suwa | |
|---|---|
諏訪 敦彦 | |
 Nobuhiro Suwa at the Vienna International Film Festival 2009 | |
| Born | May 28, 1960 Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 1996-present |
| Known for | M/Other (1999) |
Biography
editHaving graduated from Hiroshima Prefectural Hatsukaichi High School (located in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima), Suwa studied at Tokyo Zokei University, under the tutorship of Nobuhiro Kawanaka. While at the college, he began working producing independent films, of which Hanasareru Gang was chosen for the Pia Film Festival. After graduating from Tokyo Zokei, Suwa began directing television documentary films, and worked with directors such as Sōgo Ishii and Masashi Yamamoto.
In 1996, his feature film directorial debut, 2/Duo (2/デュオ, 2/Dyuo) was released. Suwa's second film, M/Other, was released soon after in 1999, winning the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival[1] and being the subject of several other awards and critical acclaim, both in Japan and internationally.[1] M/Other also won the award for best screenplay at the 50th Mainichi Film Awards.[1] His assistant director in the film was Miwa Nishikawa.
Suwa's third feature film, H Story (starring Kō Machida), was released in March 2000. It presents itself as an autobiographical documentary on an attempt to remake Alain Resnais' Hiroshima Mon Amour,[2] and had been noted as an audacious attempt at a Nouvelle Vague portrayal of his hometown, Hiroshima.[3] The film is bilingual French-Japanese. Also during the same year, he guest-appeared in and co-created the Sōgo Ishii-directed samurai epic Gojoe Reisenki: GOJEI.[4][user-generated source]
In 2005, he directed and wrote Un Couple Parfait (不完全なふたり, Fukanzen no Futari, a.k.a. A Perfect Couple), which featured a French cast and crew and is entirely in French. The film won the Special Prize of the Jury Award and the C.I.C.A.E. Award at the 58th Locarno Film Festival.[5]
Later, in 2006, Suwa participated in the international omnibus film Paris, je t'aime. He directed and wrote the segment representing the 2nd arrondissement, filmed at Place des Victoires. Paris, je t'aime was the opening film of the Un Certain Regard selection at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2009, Suwa directed jointly with Hippolyte Girardot Yuki & Nina, another French-Japanese bilingual movie which was shot in both France and Japan.
Political views
editIn December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Nobuhiro Suwa signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[6][7][8]
Directorial works
edit- Santa ga machi ni yatte kuru (16mm) (1982)
- Hanasareru GANG (8mm) (1995)
- 2/Duo (1997)
- M/Other (1999)
- H Story (2001)
- After war (Segment: "A letter from Hiroshima") (2002)
- Un couple parfait (2005)
- Paris je t'aime (segment: Place des Victoires) (2006)
- Yuki & Nina (co-directed with Hippolyte Girardot) (2009)
- The Lion Sleeps Tonight (2017)
- Voices in the Wind (2020)
Television documentaries
edit- Abe Kobo ga sagashiateta jidai (1994)
- Hollywood wo Kaketa Kaiyū-itan no hito Kamiyama Sojin (1995; Higashinippon Broadcasting)
Acting work
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "M/Other (1999) - Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: H Story". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ^ On the genre of H Story and its relations with Hiroshima non amour, see G. HAINGE, A Tale of (at least) two Hiroshimas : Nobuhiro Suwa’s H Story and Alain Resnais’s Hiroshima mon amour, Contemporary French Civilization 32, 2 (2008), p. 147-173; Id., The Reverse Atomic Principle of Hiroshima mon amour Archived 2011-01-10 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "諏訪敦彦とは - はてなダイアリー". Hate na Diary. Retrieved 2008-03-04.[user-generated source]
- ^ "Un couple parfait (2005) - Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- ^ "Gaza : des cinéastes du monde entier demandent un cessez-le-feu immédiat". Libération (in French). 28 December 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ Newman, Nick (29 December 2023). "Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & More Sign Demand for Ceasefire in Gaza". The Film Stage. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "Directors of cinema sign petition for immediate ceasefire". The Jerusalem Post. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ "「ONODA」に仲野太賀、松浦祐也、井之脇海、諏訪敦彦、イッセー尾形ら12名". Natalie. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
External links
edit- Nobuhiro Suwa at IMDb
- Profile at Tokyo Zokei University (in Japanese)
- Extensive interview of Suwa about his career before M/Other (in French)
- For a study of French language in Suwa's movies, see A. D'Hautcourt, « Nobuhiro Suwa et le(s) français », Journal of Inquiry and Research 92, 2010, p. 129-139 (in French)