Akira Kurosawa (1910 – 1998)

Japanese painter, sriptwriter and filmmaker

Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years. His last few films were made using his paintings as  storyboards after he had lost his eyesight.

Entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. He most frequently collaborated with actor Toshiro Mifune with whom he has made 15 films. His film , Rashomon, was first to open up Western film markets for Japanese films, leading to the popularity of many Japanese filmmakers.

In 1990, Kurosawa accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named “Asian of the Century” in the “Arts, Literature, and Culture” category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN, cited as “one of the [five] people who contributed most to the betterment of Asia in the past 100 years”.

Films of Note: Sanshiro Sugata (1943), Drunken Angel (1948), The Quiet Duel (1949), Stray Dog (1949),  Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952),  Seven Samurai (1954),  Record of a Living Being (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), The Lower Depths (1957),  The Hidden Fortress (1958), Yojimbo (1961), Sanjuro (1962),  High and Low (1963),  Red Beard(1965), Dersu Uzala (1975), Kagemusha (1980),  Ran (1985)