Young filmmakers looking to follow in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s footsteps have their work cut out for them + Trailer

Master class: Director Hirokazu Kore-eda poses with his Palme d'Or trophy at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19. He won the event's top prize for his film, 'Shoplifters.' | AFP-JIJI

With his win of the Palme d’Or at Cannes for the family drama “Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda has joined the short list of Japanese directors acknowledged as masters by the outside world. Yasujiro Ozu and Akira Kurosawa head that list, with Kore-eda’s own favorite, Mikio Naruse, a rank below.

Along with “master” status usually comes influence on younger filmmakers. Kurosawa’s impact has arguably been the greatest, with movies such as “Seven Samurai” (1954) and “Yojimbo” (1961) inspiring not only remakes but entire subgenres: the “men (or more rarely, women) on a mission” movie from the former and the “dirty hero” action movie from the latter.

Kore-eda has long been a mentor to younger directors, most prominently Miwa Nishikawa (“The Long Excuse,” 2016) and documentarian Mami Sunada (“The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness,” 2013). Launched in 2014, his company Bun-Buku produces everything from feature films to TV commercials with these and other filmmakers.......

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