Shinsuke Ogawa
Known for: Directing
Born: June 24, 1935 in Shiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan - Died: February 6, 1992
Shinsuke Ogawa (小川紳介, Ogawa Shinsuke) (25 June 1935 - 7 February 1992) was a Japanese documentary film director. Ogawa and Noriaki Tsuchimoto have been called the "two figures [that] tower over the landscape of Japanese documentary." Ogawa began his career at Iwanami Productions (Iwanami Eiga) making PR (public relations) films alongside other important directors such as Tsuchimoto, Kazuo Kuroki, Yōichi Higashi, and Susumu Hani. Turning independent, he first made documentaries about radical political movements in 1960s and 1970s Japan, most famously the "Sanrizuka" or "Narita" series, which recorded the struggle by farmers and student protesters to prevent the construction of the Narita International Airport in Sanrizuka, Chiba Prefecture. He won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for Summer in Narita in 1970. Ogawa's was a committed form of documentary, which clearly took the side of those combatting unjust power. A growing sense that he did not understand the life of the farmers he was filming, however, led Ogawa and his crew, collectively called Ogawa Productions, to leave for Magino in Yamagata Prefecture where they spent decades filming the life and histories of everyday farmers while living with them and pursuing agriculture. He often worked with the cinematographer Masaki Tamura. The "Magino" films became the epitome of Ogawa's stance towards documentary: that one can only record a reality that one has been truly immersed in. Ogawa was influential in the creation of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, where the top prize in the Asia program was named after him. The film Devotion by Barbara Hammer is about Ogawa Productions.
Known for
Showing 22 of 22 titles
Sanrizuka: Heta Village
Narrator
A Visit to Ogawa Productions
Himself
A Movie Capital
Self
Devotion: A Film About Ogawa Productions
Himself
Yamani ikiru kora
Producer
Chiisana gen-ei
Producer
Furuyashiki: A Japanese Village
Director
Red Persimmons
Director
The Magino Village Story: Pass
Producer
Summer in Sanrizuka
Director
Magino Village: A Tale
Director
Narita: The Peasants of the Second Fortress
Director
Hokkaido, My Love
Assistant Director
The Oppressed Students
Director
Dokkoi! Songs from the Bottom
Director
Sanrizuka: The Three-Day War
Director
Sanrizuka: The Sky of May
Director
Winter in Sanrizuka
Director
Report from Haneda
Director
The Magino Village Story: Raising Silkworms
Director
Sanrizuka: The Building of Iwayama Tower
Director
Sea of Youth
Director