Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Kurosawa worked across film director, screenwriter, film critic, journalist and television director and 1 further recorded occupations. This article rests on 18 published texts and 24 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

• Name — Kiyoshi Kurosawa • Born — 19 July 1955 • Birthplace — Kobe, Japan • Occupation — Film director, screenwriter, film critic, author, actor • Years Active — 1973–present • Education — Rikkyo University Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese filmmaker, critic, author, actor, and a former professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (2005–23). Noted for his psychological films that often focus on ambiguous narratives and on their characters' inner turmoils and quests for meaning and connections, he is best known for his contributions to psychological horror and Japanese horror, notably his acclaimed 1997 film Cure, although he has also worked in a variety of other genres. While most of his work has been in Japanese, two of his films, Daguerrotype (2016) and Serpent's Path (2024; a remake of his own 1998 film of the same name), were in French. Kurosawa received the Medal with Purple Ribbon for his contributions to Japanese cinema, in 2021. The New York Times stated that Kurosawa "is to psychological fright what David Cronenberg is to body horror."

Born in Kobe on July 19, 1955, Kiyoshi Kurosawa started making films about his life in high school. He studied at Rikkyo University in Tokyo under the guidance of prominent film critic Shigehiko Hasumi, where he began making 8mm films. Though they share a surname, he is not related to filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

Kurosawa began directing commercially in the 1980s, working on pink films and low-budget V-Cinema (direct-to-video) productions such as formula yakuza films. In 1981, his 8mm film Shigarami Gakuen (しがらみ学園) was nominated for the Oshima Prize at the PFF (Pia Film Festival). In 1983, after he worked with Shinji Soumai, he released his first feature film Kandagawa Pervert Wars (1983). He became popular after The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985) and The Guard from Underground (1992). In the early 1990s, Kurosawa won a scholarship to the Sundance Institute by submitting his original screen play Charisma. Then, he was able to study filmmaking in the United States, although he had been directing for nearly ten years professionally. Kurosawa first achieved international acclaim with his 1997 crime thriller film Cure. A year later, he completed two thrillers back-to-back, Serpent's Path and Eyes of the Spider, both of which shared the same premise (a father taking revenge for his child's murder) and lead actor (Show Aikawa) but spun entirely different stories. In March 1999, the Hong Kong International Film Festival presented his first retrospective, a five-title-program including The Excitement of the Do-re-mi fa Girls, The Guard from Underground, Serpent's Path, Eyes of the Spider, and License to Live. Kurosawa followed up Cure with a semi-sequel in 1999 with Charisma, a detective film starring Kōji Yakusho. In 2000, Seance, Kurosawa's adaptation of the novel Seance on a Wet Afternoon by Mark McShane, premiered on Kansai TV. It also starred Yakusho, as well as Jun Fubuki (the two had appeared together in Charisma as well). In 2001, he directed the horror film Pulse. Kurosawa released Bright Future, starring Tadanobu Asano, Joe Odagiri and Tatsuya Fuji, in 2003. He followed this with another digital feature, Doppelganger, later the same year. Both Bright Future and Doppelganger have nominated for the Cannes Film Festivals • Illustration — Kurosawa in 2008 In 2005, Kurosawa returned with Loft, his first love story since Seance. Another horror film, Retribution, followed in the next year. With his 2008 film, Tokyo Sonata, Kurosawa was considered to step "out of his usual horror genre and into family drama". He has written a novelization of his own film Pulse, as well as a history of horror cinema with Makoto Shinozaki. In September 2012, it was announced that he would direct 1905, a film starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Shota Matsuda and Atsuko Maeda. In February 2013, it was announced that production of the film had been cancelled before filming could start. Kurosawa directed a 2012 five-part television drama Penance. Beautiful 2013, an anthology film featuring Kurosawa's Beautiful New Bay Area Project, screened at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2013. Kurosawa's next feature film Real, which stars Takeru Sato and Haruka Ayase, was released in 2013. He won the Best Director award at the 8th Rome Film Festival for Seventh Code later that year. His 2015 film Journey to the Shore was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival where he won the prize for Best Director. In 2016, his thriller Creepy premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. The film marked Kurosawa's first cinematic return to the horror genre since 2006. His 2017 film Before We Vanish was screened in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival. His 2019 film To the Ends of the Earth was screened as the closing film in the Piazza Grande program of the 72nd Locarno Film Festival. In 2020, Kurosawa won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the 77th Venice International Film Festival for his film Wife of a Spy. Kurosawa directed three films in 2024: the short film Chime, a French-language remake of Serpent's Path, and the thriller Cloud. The latter was nominated for Best Film at that year's Sitges Film Festival. His first jidaigeki (period drama) The Samurai and the Prisoner is scheduled to premiere in June 2026.

From 2005 to 2023, Kurosawa was a Professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts's Graduate School of Film and New Media.

In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Kurosawa 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.

• 1905 (一九〇五) - A period drama set in early-20th-century Yokohama, starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Shota Matsuda, and Atsuko Maeda. Partly financed by Hong Kong studio Sil-Metropole Organisation. Filming was set to begin in Taiwan in fall 2012, for a fall 2013 release. Production was cancelled prematurely due to Leung's involvement exacerbated by the Senkaku Islands dispute and the bankruptcy of studio Prenom H on 20 February 2013.

• Yakuza Taxi (1994) • Men of Rage (1994) • Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself: The Heist (1995) • Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself: The Escape (1995) • Door 3 (1996) • Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself: The Loot (1996) • Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself: The Gamble (1996) • Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself: The Nouveau Riche (1996) • Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself: The Hero (1996) • The Revenge: A Visit from Fate (1997) • The Revenge: A Scar That Never Fades (1997) • Eyes of the Spider (1998)

• Soul Dancing (2004)

• Wordholic Prisoner (1990) • Whirlpool of Joy (1992) • Séance (2000) • Matasaburo, the Wind Imp (2003) • Penance (2012) • Foreboding (2017) • Wife of a Spy (2020) • Modern Love Tokyo (2022, episode 5)

• The Funeral (1984) – Assistant director • The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (1985) – Customer • The Enchantment (1989) – Librarian • Stranger at Night (1991) – Taxi rider • Reincarnation (2005) – College professor • Occult (2009) – Himself

• Marquees – Tongati Musume (1991) • Sōtaisei Riron – Flashback (2016) • Nogizaka46 – Actually... (2022)

• Institution — Year — Category — Work — Result • Asian Film Awards — 2009 — Best Screenplay — Wife of a Spy • 2016 — Journey to the Shore • 2021 — Best Director — Tokyo Sonata • Asia Pacific Screen Awards — 2008 — Best Director • Best Screenplay • Busan International Film Festival — 2024 — Asian Filmmaker of the Year • Cahiers du Cinéma — 2009 — Annual Top 10 Lists — Tokyo Sonata — 9th place • 2015 — Journey to the Shore — 10th place • Cannes Film Festival — 1999 — SACD Prize — Charisma • CICAE Award • 2001 — Un Certain Regard — Pulse • FIPRESCI Prize • 2003 — Palme d'Or — Bright Future • 2008 — Un Certain Regard — Tokyo Sonata • Un Certain Regard Jury Prize • 2015 — Un Certain Regard — Journey to the Shore • Un Certain Regard Directing Prize • 2017 — Un Certain Regard — Before We Vanish • Chicago International Film Festival — 2008 — Grand Jury Prize — Tokyo Sonata • El Gouna Film Festival — 2020 — Golden Star — Wife of a Spy • Fantasia Film Festival — 2001 — Critics' Prize — Séance • 2016 — Best Director — Creepy • Fribourg International Film Festival — 2013 — Grand Prix — Penance • FIPRESCI Prize • Hainan International Film Festival — 2020 — Golden Coconut — Wife of a Spy • Audience Award • Huading Awards — 2021 — Best Global Director — Wife of a Spy • Japan Academy Film Prize — 2018 — Director of the Year — Before We Vanish • Japanese Professional Movie Awards — 1998 — Best Film — Cure • 1999 — Serpent's Path • 2004 — Bright Future • Best Director • Doppelganger • Jeonju International Film Festival — 2001 — Asian Indie Cine-Forum Woosuk Award — Séance • Kinema Junpo — 2009 — Best Film of the Year — Tokyo Sonata • 2017 — Creepy • 2018 — Before We Vanish • Locarno Film Festival — 2013 — Golden Leopard — Real • 2019 — Variety Piazza Grande Award — To the Ends of the Earth • Mar del Plata International Film Festival — 2008 — International Competition — Tokyo Sonata • Best Director • Munich Film Festival — 2015 — Best International Film — Journey to the Shore • 2021 — Wife of a Spy • Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival — 2017 — Best Film — Before We Vanish • Nippon Connection — 2016 — Nippon Honor Award • 2021 — Best Film — To the Ends of the Earth • Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema — 2008 — Best Film — Tokyo Sonata • Pink Film Awards — 1984 — Top 10 Films — Kandagawa Pervert Wars — 3rd place • Rome Film Festival — 2013 — Cinema XXI Award — Beautiful New Bay Area Project • Golden Marc'Aueilo — Seventh Code • Best Director • San Sebastián International Film Festival — 2020 — Audience Award — Wife of a Spy • 2024 — Golden Seashell — Serpent's Path • Seattle International Film Festival — 2001 — Emerging Masters Showcase Award • Shanghai International Film Festival — 2015 — Golden Goblet — Journey to the Shore • Singapore International Film Festival — 2000 — Best Asian Feature Film — Charisma • Sitges Film Festival — 2001 — Best Film — Pulse • Critics' Award • 2006 — Time-Machine Honorary Award • 2015 — Best Motion Picture — Journey to the Shore • 2017 — Before We Vanish • 2024 — Cloud • Sydney Film Festival — 2008 — Best Film — Tokyo Sonata • Tokyo International Film Festival — 1997 — Tokyo Grand Prix — Cure • 1998 — License to Live • Special Mention • 2016 — Samurai Award • Toronto International Film Festival — 2016 — Platform Prize — Daguerrotype • Venice International Film Festival — 1999 — Cinema of the Present — Barren Illusion • 2020 — Golden Lion — Wife of a Spy • Silver Lion • Yokohama Film Festival — 1999 — Best Director — Cure

Kiyoshi Kurosawa was born on 19 July 1955 in Kobe. Kurosawa held the nationality of Japan. Kurosawa was educated at Rikkyo University and Sundance Institute. Kurosawa worked as film director, screenwriter, film critic and journalist, and the authority record catalogues a further 2 occupations under the same name, among them television director and actor. Kurosawa was active from 1973. Kurosawa worked in Japanese.

Kurosawa worked for the screen, as film director and screenwriter. 34 films survive in the institutional catalogues, spanning 1980 to 2026. Among them are Vertigo College (1980), Kandagawa Pervert Wars (1983), The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985), Sweet Home (1989), The Guard from Underground (1992) and Cure (1997). The whole run is set out in the catalogue below.

• Year — English title — Original title — Notes • 1983 — Kandagawa Pervert Wars — 神田川淫乱戦争 • 1985 — The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl • 1989 — Sweet Home — スウィートホーム • Dangerous Bedtime Stories — 危ない話 夢幻物語 — Segment: "They Came Tonight As Well" • 1992 — The Guard from Underground — 地獄の警備員 • 1996 — Door III — DOOR III • 1997 — Cure — キュア • 1998 — Serpent's Path — 蛇の道 • Eyes of the Spider — 蜘蛛の瞳 • License to Live — ニンゲン合格 • 1999 — Charisma — カリスマ • Barren Illusion • 2001 — Pulse — 回路 • 2003 — Bright Future — アカルイミライ • Doppelganger — ドッペルゲンガー • 2005 — Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs — 楳図かずお恐怖劇場 • Loft • 2006 — Retribution — 叫 • 2008 — Tokyo Sonata — トウキョウソナタ • 2013 — Real — リアル〜完全なる首長竜の日〜 • Seventh Code • 2015 — Journey to the Shore — 岸辺の旅 • 2016 — Creepy — クリーピー 偽りの隣人 • Daguerrotype — Le Secret de la chambre noire — French-language debut • 2017 — Before We Vanish — 散歩する侵略者 • Foreboding — 予兆 散歩する侵略者 • 2019 — To the Ends of the Earth — 旅のおわり世界のはじまり • 2020 — Wife of a Spy — スパイの妻 • 2024 — Serpent's Path — La Voie du serpent • Cloud — クラウド • 2026 — The Samurai and the Prisoner — 黒牢城

• Vertigo College (1980) • Ghost Cop (2003) • Beautiful New Bay Area Project (2013) • Chime (2024)

• Medal with Purple Ribbon (2021)