Kōichi Saitō
Known for: Directing
Born: February 2, 1929 in Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan - Died: November 27, 2009
Kōichi Saitō (斎藤 耕一 Saitō Kōichi, 3 February 1929 – 28 November 2009) was a Japanese film director and photographer. Born in Tokyo, Saitō started studying at Rikkyo University but ended up graduating from the Tokyo College of Photography (currently Tokyo Polytechnic University). He was initially a movie stills photographer at Nikkatsu before launching his own production company, Saito Productions, and directing his first film, Tsubuyaki no Jō, "a low-budget, independent film with a visual flair that earned comparisons with Claude Lelouch and with Richard Lester’s Beatles films, including A Hard Day’s Night". Some of his first films were youth movies featuring Group Sounds music. He came to prominence in the early 1970s with a series of movies about young people escaping to or searching for their identity in the countryside. He won the best director award at the 1972 Mainichi Film Awards. His Tsugaru jongarabushi was selected the best film of 1973 in the Kinema Junpo poll of critics. Saitō continued directing into his seventies and also made some documentaries. He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette) in 2000.
Known for
Showing 24 of 42 titles
Little Snack
Director
Frozen River
Director
Jesus is My Boss
Director
Tsugaru Folksong
Director
Only on Mondays
Writer
Secret Flower
First Assistant Director
Ambition in The Mirror
Assistant Director
The Rendezvous
Director
Journey Into Solitude
Director
The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi
Writer
Whispering Joe
Director
Shadow of Deception
Director
The Homeless
Director
The S.S. Happiness Sets Sail
Director
Onigiri: Arcadia monogatari
Director
Hotel Rose
Director
Bokyo
Director
Ningen no sabaku
Director
The Blue Mountains '88
Director
Seasonal Wind
Director
Takehisa Yumeji monogatari: koi suru
Director
Someday, Somewhere
Director
Kigeki: koko kara hajimaru monogatari
Director
Kigeki: Hanayome sensô
Director