About

Known credits:
38
Birthday:
1927-01-28
Place of birth:
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Website:
N/A

Hiroshi Teshigahara

Overview

Hiroshi Teshigahara (January 28, 1927 – April 14, 2001) was an avant-garde Japanese filmmaker.

He was born in Tokyo, son of Sofu Teshigahara, founder and grand master of the Sogetsu School of ikebana. He graduated in 1950 from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and began working in documentary film. He directed his first feature film, Pitfall (1962), in collaboration with author Kōbō Abe and musician Tōru Takemitsu. The film won the NHK New Director's award, and throughout the 1960s, he continued to collaborate on films with Abe and Takemitsu while simultaneously pursuing his interest in ikebana and sculpture on a professional level.

In 1965, the Teshigahara/Abe film Woman in the Dunes (1964) was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1972, he worked with Japanese researcher and translator John Nathan to make the movie Summer Soldiers, a film set during the Vietnam War about American deserters living on the fringe of Japanese society.

From the mid-1970s onwards, he worked less frequently on feature films as he concentrated more on documentaries, exhibitions and the Sogetsu School and became grand master of the school in 1980.

In 1978, Teshigahara Hiroshi directed the final two episodes of the long running and popular Japanese television series Shin Zatouichi, starring Shintarō Katsu as the blind wandering Yakuza. During Akira Kurosawa's 5 year hiatus from filmmaking, he watched a lot of television and was particularly taken by the final episode of Shin Zatouichi - Episode: Journey of Dreams (1978). The influence of this particular episode included the initial casting of Shintaro Katsu in the lead roles in Kagemusha and the extended artistic dream sequences contributed to those seen in Kagemusha (1980).

On the first anniversary of his death, April 14, 2002, a DVD box set containing his best known work was released in Japan in commemoration.

Known for

Directing
1992 Basara: The Princess Goh Directing Director 58
Average
1989 Rikyu Directing Director 59
Average
1985 Basara no Hana (Flowers of Extravagance) Directing Director N/A
N/A
1984 Antonio Gaudí Directing Director 59
Average
1981 Moving Sculpture: Jean Tinguely Directing Director N/A
N/A
1972 Summer Soldiers Directing Director 58
Average
1970 240 Hours in One Day Directing Director N/A
N/A
1968 The Man Without a Map Directing Director 59
Average
1967 Explosion Course Directing Director N/A
N/A
1966 The Face of Another Directing Director 65
Fair
1965 Jose Torres II Directing Director 59
Average
1964 Ako Directing Director 59
Average
1964 That Tender Age Directing Director N/A
N/A
1964 Woman in the Dunes Directing Director 69
Fair
1962 Pitfall Directing Director 61
Fair
1962 Sculptures by Sofu - Vita Directing Director 59
Average
1959 Jose Torres Directing Director 59
Average
1959 Gaudi, Catalunya Directing Director N/A
N/A
1958 Tokyo 1958 Directing Director 59
Average
1957 The World Is Terrified: The Reality of the “Ash of Death” Directing Co-Director N/A
N/A
1957 Ikebana Directing Director 59
Average
1956 It Is Good to Live Directing Co-Director 59
Average
1955 12 Photographers Directing Director N/A
N/A
1953 Hokusai Directing Director 59
Average

Writing
1992 Basara: The Princess Goh Writing Writer 58
Average
1989 Rikyu Writing Writer 59
Average
1964 Ako Writing Writer 59
Average
1958 Tokyo 1958 Writing Screenplay 59
Average

Production
1984 Antonio Gaudí Production Executive Producer 59
Average
1958 Tokyo 1958 Production Producer 59
Average
1953 Hokusai Production Associate Producer 59
Average

Camera
1972 Summer Soldiers Camera Director of Photography 58
Average
1959 Jose Torres Camera Director of Photography 59
Average

Crew
1958 Living in a Rough Sea Crew Cinematography N/A
N/A
1956 Record of Bloodshed: Sunagawa Crew Cinematography N/A
N/A

Editing
1984 Antonio Gaudí Editing Editor 59
Average
1958 Tokyo 1958 Editing Editor 59
Average
1955 Wheat Will Never Fall Editing Editor N/A
N/A