PROFOUND DESIRES OF THE GODS

He was born in Tokyo, in 1926. He studied Western history at Waseda University, where he also wrote and staged plays. In 1951 he began working as an assistant director and, in 1958, he shot his first feature film. He founded his own production company and, in 1975, he created what is known today as the Japanese Academy of Visual Arts. His films The Ballad of Narayama (1983) and The Eel (1996) won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.