Naomi Kawase
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- May 30, 1969, Nara, Japan
- Movies
- 79
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.
Upcoming Naomi Kawase Movies
Echoes of Motherhood
2026
October 30, 2026
Best-Known Movies
Filmography
| 2026 | Echoes of Motherhood | |
| 2026 | The Wolf, the Fox, and the Leopard | Tanaka |
| 2025 | Emergency Exit | |
| 2020 | It Stopped Raining | Koyomi's Mother |
| 2016 | Amami | Self |
| 2014 | Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women | Self |
| 2013 | The Tale of Iya | Dr. Amamiya |
| 2013 | Shining Besides Funny Moon | |
| 2012 | Trace | Self |
| 2011 | Destroy Vicious | |
| 2008 | Rien ne s'efface | elle-même |
| 2006 | Birth/Mother | Self |
| 2004 | Women Make Films | Self |
| 2003 | Shara | Reiko |
| 2002 | Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom | Self |
| 2001 | Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth | Self |
| 1999 | Kaleidoscope | Self |
| 1998 | Love & Pop | Woman speaking to Hiromi (voice) |
| 1996 | Sun on the Horizon | Self |
| 1995 | Memory of the Wind | Herself |
| 1995 | See Heaven | Self |
| 1994 | Katatsumori | Self |
| 1992 | Embracing | Self |
Directing, Writing & Producing
| 2025 | Yakushima's Illusion | Director, Writer |
| 2023 | Beyond the Fog | Producer |
| 2023 | echo | Director |
| 2022 | Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Side B | Director |
| 2022 | Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Side A | Director |
| 2021 | To The Future | Director |
| 2020 | True Mothers | Director, Screenplay |
| 2018 | The Moon | Director, Writer |
| 2018 | Vision | Director, Writer, Producer |
| 2018 | Cinema Fighters | Director, Writer |
| 2018 | Parallel World | Director |
| 2017 | Where Does the Sand Go? | Director, Writer |
| 2017 | Radiance | Director, Screenplay |
| 2016 | Amami | Director |
| 2016 | Lies | Director |
| 2016 | Seed | Director, Writer |
| 2015 | A Midsummer's Fantasia | Producer |
| 2015 | Sweet Bean | Screenplay, Director |
| 2014 | Still the Water | Director, Screenplay, Producer |
| 2012 | Hikaru Utada: Sakura Nagashi | Director |
| 2012 | Trace | Director, Writer |
| 2012 | Inori | Producer |
| 2012 | Hanezu | Director, Screenplay, Producer |
| 2011 | 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero | Director |
| 2011 | 3.11 A Sense of Home Films | Director |
| 2010 | Genpin | Director, Writer, Producer |
| 2009 | Koma | Director |
| 2009 | Haiku | Director |
| 2009 | Cinematic Correspondences: Isaki Lacuesta - Naomi Kawase | Director |
| 2008 | Nanayo | Director, Screenplay, Producer |
| 2007 | The Mourning Forest | Director, Screenplay, Producer |
| 2006 | Birth/Mother | Director |
| 2003 | Shara | Director, Writer |
| 2002 | Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom | Director, Writer |
| 2001 | Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth | Director, Writer |
| 2001 | Firefly | Director, Writer |
| 1999 | Kaleidoscope | Director, Writer |
| 1998 | The Weald | Director, Writer, Producer |
| 1997 | Suzaku | Director, Writer |
| 1996 | Sun on the Horizon | Director, Writer |
| 1996 | This World (A Correspondence Between Naomi Kawase and Hirokazu Koreeda) | Director |
| 1995 | Memory of the Wind | Director |
| 1995 | Kaze no kioku: Shibuya ni te 1995.12.26 | Director |
| 1995 | See Heaven | Director |
| 1994 | Katatsumori | Director, Producer, Writer |
| 1993 | White Moon | Director |
| 1992 | Embracing | Director, Producer, Writer |
| 1991 | Like Happiness | Director |
| 1990 | The Girls' Daily Bread | Director |
| 1989 | My Sole Family | Director |
| 1989 | A Small Largeness | Director |
| 1989 | Presently, | Director |
| 1988 | The Concretization of These Things Flying Around Me | Director |
| 1988 | Papa's Ice Cream | Director |
| 1988 | My J-W-F | Director |
| 1988 | I Focus on That Which Interests Me | Director |
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