Japanese Film Directors

Film directors of Japan, who made the country's cinema one of the great national cinemas of the world, from the silent era through the postwar golden age. Their films range from samurai epics and period dramas to quiet family stories, and their style and patient pace influenced filmmakers around the world. The group includes the director of Seven Samurai and the director of Tokyo Story. Japanese films reached the West after the Venice festival of 1951, and the form has been admired and borrowed ever since.