Naomi Kawase

The Aso family live in the old town of Nara. One Day, Kei, one of the Aso's twin boys suddenly disappears. Five years later seventeen-year old Shun, the remaining twin, is an art student. He now has to move forward with his life, together with his childhood friend, Yu.

A caregiver at a small retirement home takes one of her patients for drive to the country, but the two wind up stranded in a forest where they embark on an exhausting and enlightening two-day journey. (imdb)

Depicts the life of a family in a remote Japanese timber village. Family head Tahara Kozo lives with his mother Sachiko, wife Yasuyo, nephew Eisuke and young daughter Michiru. Economic recession and failed development plans cause tragedy in the family (imdb)

Filmed in 8MM, the film's director and narrator, Naomi Kawase, reminisces about her past: her parents' divorce and her ultimate split from them to live with her "granny", or great-aunt. From here, she collects images from her past while simultaneously trying to find her father.

A young woman leaves her job and lover in Japan to start a new life in Thailand. (imdb)

The intense love affair between striptease dancer Ayako and potter Daiji is enhanced by mainly medium and close shots of the handheld camera and the natural style of the actors. The director, Kawase, shot most of the material in the area where she grew up and the whole film breaths an intimate love for the people who inhabit the villages and farmlands. The confrontation with memories and ancient traditions play a vital role in the script...

Three short films part of the Jeonju Digital Project 2009.

Takumi and Kayoko, inheriting the unfulfilled hopes of their grandparents, live out their lives. Their tale continues a story of the ages, representing the uncountable souls that have accumulated in this land. (mubi.com)

Two years after Embracing, Kawase Naomi films the everyday life with her grandma (adopted mother). The heart-warming pictures described through the growth of peas captures the audience's mind. --kawasenaomi.com

Kawase Naomi films the everyday life with her grandma (adopted mother).

The last piece of the trilogy, following Katatsumori and See Heaven, filming her grandma and herself. Her gazes and insights are cast on the lovable beings in front of her eyes. (kawasenaomi.com)

Naomi Kawase was born into a world where her parents, and most family, were absent. Chiri is the close observation of the end of the life of her foster mother, after she had turned 95. Following her mother's daily life as she lives out her time, steadily approaching death, Kawase contemplates the fundamental themes of her own film productions.

In memory of the Japanese earthquake on 3.11, each director presents a 3 minute and 11 second short film in tribute to those who were lost that day.

The film follows the lives of elderly woodcutters living in a village called Nishi Yoshino located in the mountains of Nara prefecture. (Nippon Cinema)

On the subtropical Japanese island of Amami, traditions about nature remain eternal. During the full-moon night of traditional dances in August, 16-year-old Kaito discovers a dead body floating in the sea. His girlfriend Kyoko will attempt to help him understand this mysterious discovery. Together, Kaito and Kyoko will learn to become adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love. (imdb)

Kawase tries to come to terms with her late father, whom she never knew when growing up, and contemplates getting a tattoo like his. (imdb)

Naomi Kawase's autobiographical work about birth and her grandmother.

The "manager" of a pancake stall finds himself confronted with an odd but sympathetic elderly lady looking for work. A taste of her home-made bean jelly convinces him, starting a relationship that is about much more than just street food. (imdb)

Naomi Kawase describes Sakura Ando, the lead character in her film, as being "more like a fairy. A mysterious creature". Seed is the story of the journey this girl takes from the enchanted nature of Nara to the chaos of Tokyo, and the encounters she has along the way. A boy offers her the gift of an apple, which she in turn gives to a homeless man, who proffers her a soft piece of chiffon fabric in exchange. (letterboxd)

Misako is a passionate writer of film versions for the visually impaired. At a screening, she meets Nakamori, an older photographer who is slowly losing his eyesight. Misako soon discovers Nakamori's photographs, who will strangely bring her back to her past. Together, they will learn to see the radiant world that was invisible to her eyes. (mk2 films)

Binoche plays a French essayist who visits Nara, Kawase's birthplace and long-time base, where she encounters Nagase's character, a mysterious mountain man who connects with her despite barriers of language and culture. (variety.com)

Part of the Jeonju Digital Project, Visitors consists of three films from three different directors. "Lost in the Mountains," by Hong Sang Soo. "Koma" by Naomi Kawase, and "Butterflies have no Memories" by Lav Diaz. (imdb)

A woman with an adopted child is contacted unexpectedly by the child's birth mother. (imdb)

The director agrees to film the last days of her chronically ill friend, the photographer and film critic Kazuo Nishii. (imdb)

Starring Ono Machiko (then high school girl in Nishi Yoshino village scouted by Kawase herself for Suzaku) and Mifune Mika (daughter of Mifune Toshiro), Kawase filmed the shooting location for the photograph collection of these two actresses photographed by Arimoto Shinya, the Taiyo Award-winning young photographer and also Kawase's friend. The conflicted feelings, between the country girl and urban girl and between the film-director and photographer, mirror the significance of life.

About Tadashi Yoshimura's maternity clinic where he practice "natural births" deep in the forest of Okazaki (Japan). (imdb)