(c) Kurosawa Production Inc.

Born in Tokyo, when Kurosawa was 18, his painting was accepted for the NIKA exhibition. In 1936, he joined PCL studios (a Toho predecessor) as an assistant director and he dedicated the following 62 years to filmmaking, with many globally recognized achievements. "Sugata Sanshiro" (1943) was his derectorial debut. His most cerebrated works include "Rashomon" (1950, Venice Golden Lion and other festival awards), "Ikiru" (1952, Special Prize of the Senate of Berlin and other festival awards), "The Seven Samurai" (1954, Venice Golden Lion and other festival awards), "Dersu Uzala" (1957, Moscow Gold Prize and other festival awards) and "Kagemusha" (1980, Cannes Palme d'Or and other festival awards). Among the many other honors Kurosawa received are the Order of Culture awarded by the government of Japan (1985), and a special Oscar for lifetime achievement in the 1990 Academy Awards.

There are a multitude of things that I think of when I draw storyboards.
The setting of the location, the psychology and emotions of the characters, their movements,
camera angles needed to capture those movements, lighting conditions, costumes and props…
Unless I think of the specifics of all those things, I cannot draw the picture.
Or, perhaps it’s more accurate to say, that I draw the storyboards in order to think about those things.

In this manner, I solidify, enrich, and capture the image of each scene in a film until I see it clearly.
Only then do I proceed with the actual shooting.
However, it does seem that this process is already taking shape in my mind when I am writing the screenplay,
because I often find all sorts of drawings on the back of my rejected drafts.

♣ Won ♠ Nominated

1943 Sugata Sanshiro (Judo Saga)
　♣ 　People's Film Award
　♣ 　Sadao Yamanaka Prize
1944 The Most Beautiful
1945 Sanshiro Sugata Part II (Judo Saga II)
1946 No Regrets for Our Youth
1947 One Beautiful Sunday
　♣ 　Mainichi Film Concours Best Director
1948 Drunken Angel
　♣ 　Kinema Junpo Awards Best Film
　♣ 　Mainichi Film Concours Minister of Education Prize
1949 The Quiet Duel
1949 Stray Dog
　♣ 　Art Festival Best Actor
1950 The Scandal
1950 Rashomon
　♣ 　Academy Awards, USA Honarary Foreign Language Film Award
　♣ 　Venice Film Festival Golden Lion
　♣ 　Venice Film Festival Italian Film Critics Award
　♣ 　National Board of Review, USA Best Director
　♣ 　Blue Ribbon Awards Best Screenplay
　♠　BAFTA Awards Best Film from any Source
　♠　BAFTA Awards Best Foreign Film
　♠　Directors Guild of America, USA Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
1951 The Idiot
1952 Men Who Tread on the Tigers Tail
1952 Ikiru
　♣ 　Berlin International Film Festival Special Prize of the Senate of Berlin
　♣ 　Art Festival Best Actor
　♣ 　Kinema Junpo Awards Best Film
　♣ 　Mainichi Film Concours Best Film
　♣ 　Mainichi Film Concours Best Screenplay
1954 Seven Samurai
　♣ 　Venice Film Festival Silver Lion
　♠　Venice Film Festival Golden Lion
　♠　BAFTA Awards Best Film from any Source
1955 Record of Living Being
1957 The Lower Deapths
1957 Throne of Blood
♠　Venice Film Festival Golden Lion
1958 Three Rascals in the Hidden Fortress
　♣ 　Berlin International Film Festival Silver Berlin Bear, Best Director
　♣ 　Berlin International Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize
　♠　Berlin International Film Festival Golden Berlin Bear
　♣ 　Blue Ribbon Awards Best Film
1960 The Bad Sleep Well
1961 Yojimbo
　♠　Venice Film Festival Golden Lion
1962 Sanjuro
1963 High and Low
　♣ 　Mainichi Film Concours Best Film
　♠　Edgar Allan Poe Awards Best Foreign Film
　♠　Golden Globes, USA Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film
　♠　Venice Film Festival Golden Lion
1965 Red Beard
　♣ 　Venice Film Festival OCIC Award
　♠　Venice Film Festival Golden Lion
　♣ 　Manila Film Festival Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Award
　♣ 　Kinema Junpo Awards Best Director
　♣ 　Kinema Junpo Awards Best Film
　♣ 　Mainichi Film Concours Best Film
　♣ 　Blue Ribbon Awards Best Film
　♠　Golden Globes, USA Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film
1970 Dodes'ka-den
　♠　Academy Awards, USA Best Foreign Language Film
1975 Dersu Uzala
　♣ 　Academy Awards, USA Best Foreign Language Film
　♣ 　Moscow International Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize
　♣ 　Moscow International Film Festival Golden Prize
　♣ 　French Syndicate of Cinema Critics Best Foreign Film
　♣ 　Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Director-Foreign Film
1980 Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)
　♣ 　Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm
　♣ 　Cesar Awards, France Best Foreign Film
　♣ 　David di Donatello Awards Best Director-Foreign Film
　♣ 　BAFTA Awards Best Direction
　♣ 　Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists　Best Director-Foreign Film
　♠　Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists　Best Film
　♠　Academy Awards, USA Best Foreign Language Film
　♠　Golden Globes, USA Best Foreign Film
1985 Ran
　♣ 　BAFTA Awards Best Foreign Language Film
　♠　BAFTA Awards Best Adapted Screenplay
　♣ 　David di Donatello Awards Best Director-Foreign Film
　♣ 　National Board of Review, USA Best Director
　♣ 　National Board of Review, USA Best Foreign Language Film
　♣ 　National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA Best Film
　♣ 　New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Foreign Language Film
　♣ 　San Sebasti㌻ International Film Festival OCIC Award
　♣ 　Amanda Awards, Norway Best Foreign Feature Film
　♣ 　Bodil Awards Best European Film
　♣ 　Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Film
　♣ 　Joseph Plateau Awards Best Artistic Contribution
　♣ 　London Critics Circle Film Awards Director of the Year
　♣ 　London Critics Circle Film Awards Foreign Language Film of the Year
　♣ 　Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Film
　♠　Academy Awards, USA Best Director
　♠　Cesar Awards, France Best Foreign Film
　♠　Golden Globes, USA Best Foreign Film
　♠　Independent Spirit Awards Special Distinction Award
1990 Dreams
　♠　Golden Globes, USA Best Foreign Language Film
　♠　Awards of the Japanese Academy Best Director
　♠　Awards of the Japanese Academy Best Picture
　♠　Political Film Society, USA Peace
1991 Rhapsody in August
　♠　Awards of the Japanese Academy Best Director
　♠　Awards of the Japanese Academy Best Picture
　♠　Awards of the Japanese Academy Best Screenplay
1993 Madadayo (Not Yet)
　♠　Chicago Film Critics Association Awards　Best Foreign Language Film and more.


Other Remarkables

• 1927 Nika Art Exhibition
• 1971 Decorated by the President Tito in Yugoslavia
• 1976 Award for Cultural Contribution
• 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Special Award
• 1982 Venice Film Festival, Career Golden Lion
• 1984 Officier de la Legion d'Honneur
• 1985 Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur
• 1985 Award of Culture
• 1986 Directors Guild of America, Golden Jubilee Special Award
• 1986 San Francisco movie Festival, Akira Kurosawa Prize
• 1986 Knight of the Great Cross Order for Merit of the Italian Republic
• 1990 Honorary Oscar
• 1990 The Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize
• 1991 Order of People's Friendship from USSR
• 1991 Association of Asian Pacific American Artists Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1991 Directors Guild of America D W Griffith Award
• 1991 Praemium Imperiale
• 1992 Directors Guild of America, Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1994 The Kyoto Prize
• 1996 Honorary Citizen from Tokyo Metropolitan Government
• 1998 National Medal of Honor (The first film director)
  and more.