Naomi Kawase

Naomi Kawase Trailers

The Wolf, the Fox, and the Leopard TrailerEmergency Exit TrailerEchoes of Motherhood Trailer

Naomi Kawase (河瀨直美 Kawase Naomi, born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director. She graduated from Visual Arts Osaka in 1989. Many of her works have been documentaries, including Embracing, about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, and Katatsumori, about the grandmother who raised her. Aside from being a filmmaker, she is the founder and Executive Director for the Nara International Film Festival.

Most Popular Naomi Kawase Trailers

Total trailers found: 70

Haiku Trailer (2009)

03 September 2009

Kawase's entry in the Haiku project

My J-W-F Trailer (1988)

10 May 1988

1988 short film

Cinema Fighters Trailer (2018)

26 January 2018

Six stories based on six songs, the first project of Cinema Fighters.

Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth Trailer (2001)

09 August 2001

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

Emergency Exit Trailer (2025)

19 December 2025

It tells how 14 characters travel in a mysterious vehicle that they cannot easily get out of. Along the way, they fabricate about their identity and travel through unreal landscapes on a journey between life and death, sleep and wakefulness.

See Heaven Trailer (1995)

06 June 1995

The sequel to Naomi Kawase's Katatsumori. The film revisits Kawase’s relationship with her "grandma", capturing their love and attachment towards each other.

Suzaku Trailer (1997)

01 November 1997

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.

Nanayo Trailer (2008)

01 November 2008

Saiko travels to Thailand but she jumps out of the cab after knowing the driver's intentions. However, her life changes after she meets Greg.

Radiance Trailer (2017)

27 May 2017

The story follows the social intercourse between a cameraman, Masaya, with a visual impairment, and Misako who disconnects from the world.

Firefly Trailer (2001)

24 March 2001

Emotionally withdrawn strip club dancer Ayako has never recovered from her mother's suicide when she was young.

I Focus on That Which Interests Me Trailer (1988)

01 January 1988

Kawase's debut film, shot after a fateful encounter with an 8mm film camera. The sturdy frame honestly reflects what the photographer sees and feels.

Hanezu Trailer (2012)

01 February 2012

Woodwork artist Takumi moves to the small village Asuka in Nara Prefecture. He remodels old homes and lives a peaceful existence with nature.

Birth/Mother Trailer (2006)

10 August 2006

Tarachime is a documentary film which observes 'life' through childbirth. Kawase Naomi, a film director working under the theme of family, life and death, presents the bond of life through her own childbirth experience.

Love & Pop Trailer (1998)

10 January 1998

Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates.

Sweet Bean Trailer (2015)

30 May 2015

The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over.

Kaleidoscope Trailer (1999)

01 January 1999

A photographer and a filmmaker challenge each other to shoot—one to photograph the other to film—two young actresses, one from Tokyo, the other from the countryside.

Where Does the Sand Go? Trailer (2017)

30 June 2017

A film-within-a-film from Kawase's "Radiance" (2017). The film depicts a man who is obsessed with the woman of his destiny and clings to the past, and his wife who suffers from dementia.

Destroy Vicious Trailer (2011)

05 March 2011

Lies Trailer (2016)

28 June 2016

This is the story about the life and artistic views of a designer through an interview that’s replete with poetic dialogue.

Inori Trailer (2012)

04 August 2012

Director Pedro came to Japan in April 2011, started shooting in the village Totsukawa of Nara Prefecture.

Women Make Films Trailer (2004)

01 January 2004

True Mothers Trailer (2020)

23 October 2020

After suffering through a long and unsuccessful series of fertility treatments, Satoko and her husband Kiyokazu make the decision to adopt a child.

To The Future Trailer (2021)

08 April 2021

Through this short film directed by Naomi Kawase you will witness the expressiveness of students and interviews with educators from Waldorf school’s throughout Japan.

Seed Trailer (2016)

17 February 2016

Naomi Kawase describes Sakura Ando, the lead character in her film, as "a mysterious creature" who is "like a fairy.

Shining Besides Funny Moon Trailer (2013)

07 September 2013

A sexy mystery movie where a dominatrix and a detective get to the bottom of a string of suicides.

Tracing Her Shadow Trailer (2021)

19 March 2021

An old Chinese woman visits Japan to find her missing daughter whom she adopted in post-WWII China. Her granddaughter and a retired Japanese policeman join her search.

Vision Trailer (2018)

08 June 2018

Centres on Jeanne, a journalist tracking a mysterious rare herb that appears only once every 997 years.

Yakushima's Illusion Trailer (2025)

07 November 2025

Corry, a French coordinator of pediatric heart transplants is sent to Japan where organ donation remains taboo.

Hikaru Utada: Sakura Nagashi Trailer (2012)

17 November 2012

The song "Sakura Nagashi" by Hikaru Utada, reflects on themes of love, loss, and the beauty of fleeting moments.

The Mourning Forest Trailer (2007)

29 May 2007

A young woman working at a retirement home takes an elderly man living there on an excursion into the countryside, but the two wind up stranded in the titular forest.

Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Side B Trailer (2022)

24 June 2022

From a vast record of 750 days, 5000 hours, Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 SIDE A and SIDE B are the official documentaries by Naomi Kawase capturing not only the athletes gathered from all over the world, but also their families, people involved in the Games, volunteers, medical personnel, and protesters shouting for the cancellation of the Olympics.

It Stopped Raining Trailer (2020)

07 February 2020

A young bioarchaeologist Yukisuke is attracted to a girl Koyomi, who runs a small stand of taiyaki pastry that he often buys.

Beyond the Fog Trailer (2023)

22 September 2023

A quiet hamlet hidden in the remote mountains village of Japan. In this hamlet once lively with hikers and shops, we meet Ihika, a 12-year-old born into a family that has run an inn for generations.

The Nikaidos' Fall Trailer (2019)

25 January 2019

After losing his son, Tatsuya is anguished by the danger of his ancient family line coming to an end.

Still the Water Trailer (2014)

01 June 2014

On the Japanese island of Amami, despite lacking parental guidance, Kaito and his girlfriend Kyoko try to find their place in the world.

The Tale of Iya Trailer (2013)

22 October 2013

As a tunnel construction project threatens the natural order of one of Japan's last untouched regions, an old man and his granddaughter Haruna's humble lifestyle begins to influence the outlook of a man from Tokyo.

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero Trailer (2011)

22 December 2011

An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema.

Echoes of Motherhood Trailer (2025)

29 October 2025

The love and conflicts between mother and daughter, and between husband and wife. The final chapter of Nakagawa Ryutaro's trilogy, depicting the forms of love that endure through loss and rebirth.

The Concretization of These Things Flying Around Me Trailer (1988)

14 September 1988

1988 film.

The Girls' Daily Bread Trailer (1990)

04 January 1990

1990 short film

3.11 A Sense of Home Films Trailer (2011)

11 September 2011

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.

Shara Trailer (2003)

12 July 2003

The Aso family live in the old town of Nara. One Day, Kei, one of the Aso's twin boys suddenly disappears.

This World (A Correspondence Between Naomi Kawase and Hirokazu Koreeda) Trailer (1996)

01 January 1996

The film takes shape through the form of a video exchange between Hirokazu Kore-eda and Naomi Kawase. Each films the world around them and intimately reflects on their individual struggles with making films. Kore-eda self-consciously reflects on his process, “What does a camera shoot?

Transit in Flamingo Trailer (2026)

15 May 2026

Under the vast, open sky of Uda City in Nara, three young strangers meet by chance - Sae, who has just been abandoned by her boyfriend who moved with her, Akari, who has come to find the infamous flamingos her best friend Kyon-chan once spoke of, and Ryutaro, who has never once left his hometown and spends his days living in tedium.

Like Happiness Trailer (1991)

02 February 1991

1991 short film

Parallel World Trailer (2018)

26 January 2018

Toru revisits the astronomical observatory in his old school for the first time in 15 years. He finds a notebook in the room that remained unchanged and frozen in time.

My Sole Family Trailer (1989)

09 March 1989

1989 short film

White Moon Trailer (1993)

04 December 1993

Taichi, a security worker, meets a girl, Heki, at a bar. The next evening, he sees the beautiful view of his town for the first time in ages, and decides to take the long way home, where he runs into Heki again.

The Moon Trailer (2018)

13 December 2018

In the form of a fiction, Naomi Kawase delivers a self-portrait which is also a re-crossing of her earlier films.

Presently, Trailer (1989)

02 February 1989

1989 short film

Memory of the Wind Trailer (1995)

31 December 1995

Naomi Kawase observes people in the city of Shibuya with curiosity and openness, drawing parallels between life and filmmaking and discovering her abilities as a filmmaker.

A Small Largeness Trailer (1989)

24 February 1989

1989 short film.

A Midsummer's Fantasia Trailer (2015)

11 June 2015

Reality and fantasy melds as a Korean documentary film director attempts to capture life in the small town of Gojo, Japan.

Cinematic Correspondences: Isaki Lacuesta - Naomi Kawase Trailer (2009)

16 April 2009

The exhibition 'The Complete Letters' features epistolary works defined by cinematographic creation. This is an experimental communication format used between pairs of film directors.

Genpin Trailer (2010)

06 November 2010

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

echo Trailer (2023)

15 September 2023

From the music of Tunisian composer Amine Bouhafa, Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase crafts a story of two young people ruminating on existence and life in a city.

Koma Trailer (2009)

12 November 2009

Kawase explores the fragile and often tense history between Korea and Japan through the relationship that develops between a third generation Korean-Japanese man, who unexpectedly visits the small and quiet village of Koma, and a Japanese woman, a somewhat mysterious inhabitant of the village.

Sun on the Horizon Trailer (1996)

01 January 1996

The last piece of Naomi Kawase's Grandmother Trilogy, following Katatsumori (1994) and See Heaven (1995), filming her grandma and herself.

Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women Trailer (2014)

10 August 2014

Using rare footage and exclusive interviews with filmmakers from all over the globe, "Reel Herstory" corrects the historic notion that women behind the scenes in motion pictures held peripheral careers compared with their male counterparts.

The Wolf, the Fox, and the Leopard Trailer (2026)

16 April 2026

When a girl raised by wolves is found in the woods, she must learn to forge her own path as those around her try to exploit her for their own purposes.