Hirobumi Watanabe
Biography: Born in 1982 in Otawara, Tochigi prefecture, Watanabe Hirobumi graduated in Japanese literature and, after graduation, entered the Japan Academy of Moving Images. His graduation project, the 41-minute film The Light Pig of August (Hachigatsu no Karui Buta), received the Grand Prix at the Fuji Film Lovers Festival, as well as other awards. In 2013, together with his brother Yuji, composer of film music, he created Foolish Piggies Films in his hometown of Otawara. Their first production was also the debut in Watanabe's feature film, And the Mud Ship Sails Away..., which was presented at the 26th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival and had several screenings outside Japan. The film was released in Japanese theatres in December 2014. His second film, 7 Days, won the best film award in the Japanese Cinema Splash section of the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival. He has been invited to several other festivals and won the Nippon Vision Jury Award at the 17th edition of the Nippon Connection festival. Subsequently, Watanabe shot at least one film a year, always with his brother Watanabe Yuji as the author of the soundtrack and Bang Woo-hyun as director of photography. However, for his most recent film, I'm Really Good (2020), Watanabe also served as a cameraman. This is also his first title in which his grandmother, who died last year at the age of 102, does not appear. After almost a decade of consistency, more or less with the same people in front of and behind the camera, Watanabe's career seems to have come to a turning point.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: January 01, 1982
Deathday: N/A
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Known For
Techno Brothers
2023-04-25
Techno Brothers
Overview: The band "Techno Brothers" played by Watanabe, brother Watanabe Yuji and pal Kurosaki Takanori, go to find fame and fortune in Tôkyô. It’s more accurate, though, to call it their manager’s plan. Named Himuro, she channels the look and attitude of famed Vogue editor Anna Wintour, from her bobbed hair and ever-present sunglasses to her commanding air and iron will.
Genres: Music Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2023-04-25
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I’m Glad to Be Alive
2022-05-13
I’m Glad to Be Alive
Overview: Professional boxer Sota Kusunoki has gained popularity for his fighting style, where he goes headlong into his opponents. However, years of fighting have taken their toll on his body, and he is forced to retire by a doctor's stoppage. He takes the opportunity of his retirement to marry his girlfriend, Sachiko, and start a new life, but he is completely useless in society and is made acutely aware of the harsh reality of his situation. One day, a mysterious man who claims to be a fan of Sota's receives an offer to fight in an underground martial arts tournament, where he will fight for a large sum of money and where his desires are thriving... The prospect of fighting once again revives his almost forgotten excitement, and his adrenaline surges as if to fill the emptiness in him. Will the madness and honesty of a man obsessed with fighting have a happy ending or a bad one?
Genres: Action Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2022-05-13
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Your Lovely Smile
2022-11-12
Your Lovely Smile
Overview: A bittersweet, hilarious, enlightening and inspirational road trip through Japanese arthouse cinemas with a heartily independent filmmaker, who also struggles to release his own movies in real life.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2022-11-12
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Poolside Man
2016-10-29
Poolside Man
Overview: In a suburb north of Tokyo that seems to be secluded from the world’s madness and malice, Yusuke Mizuhara works as a lifeguard at a swimming pool. With no family, friends or love, his life is lonely and monotonous. One day, he goes to another pool as a replacement guard with his unpopular co-worker Koji Shirasaki…
Genres: Drama Mystery Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2016-10-29
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Party 'Round the Globe
2018-03-15
Party 'Round the Globe
Overview: Poolsideman's Watanabe Brothers stamp their trademark brand of humor and melancholy on this gem of a road movie, as two Beatlemaniacs plan and then travel to Tokyo for a Paul McCartney concert.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2018-03-15
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Cry
2019-10-31
Cry
Overview: The latest unique human drama from Hirobumi and Yuji Watanabe portrays, in black and white and without words, a man who lives with his aging grandmother and works silently in a pigpen.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2019-10-31
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Life Finds A Way
2019-05-29
Life Finds A Way
Overview: Born out of every artist’s creative crisis, the search for the next topic, Hirobumi WATANABE presents his latest film, dealing with the question of what his film should be about. The director stages himself as he idles away his days, delivering endless monologs during car rides, sleeping on the floor at his grandma’s house, or philosophizing over video games and the FIFA World Cup.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2019-05-29
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I'm Really Good
2020-06-26
I'm Really Good
Overview: A normal day for little Riko at home and at school. A vivid snapshot pervaded by the calm flow of reality that creates an authentic sense of wonder.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2020-06-26
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The Sleeping Insect
2020-09-05
The Sleeping Insect
Overview: Kanako Seri is on a packed bus heading to band practice. She becomes fascinated by a melody being hummed by another passenger, an old woman.
Genres: Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2020-09-05
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Kamata Prelude
2020-09-25
Kamata Prelude
Overview: A four-part film done in the unique style of each director, Matusbayashi Urara gives a portrayal of a struggling actress named Machiko who lives in Kamata. Machiko is the central axis of the movie as the film comically depicts what it means to be a "woman" and an "actress" in society through showing the patterns of life as conducted by her and the people that surround her.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2020-09-25
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Over the Town
2019-10-13
Over the Town
Overview: Arakawa Ao lives happily on his own and hardly ever leaves Shimokitazawa, where he works at a vintage clothing shop, goes to occasional concerts and hangs out at his favorite bar. Then, he gets an unusual request to appear in an independent film.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2019-10-13
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The Summer Days with Catfish
2025-02-08
The Summer Days with Catfish
Overview:
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2025-02-08
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We Are Aliens
2024-06-07
We Are Aliens
Overview: One day, while Seiya was calling everybody on the phone to tell them "It's me, thank you" on the rooftop of a building, a strange creature with emerald-blue fur, something he had never seen before, descended from the sky. The creature, along with its companions, claimed they had come to exterminate human race. However, through conversations with the humans they encountered, they gradually began to understand each other...
Genres: Drama Comedy Science Fiction Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2024-06-07
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