Kōichi Saitō (film director)

Kōichi Saitō (斎藤 耕一, Saitō Kōichi, 3 February 1929 – 28 November 2009) was a Japanese film director and photographer.

Kōichi Saitō
Born(1929-02-03)3 February 1929
Tokyo
Died28 November 2009(2009-11-28) (aged 80)
Occupation(s)Film director, photographer

Career

Born in Tokyo, Saitō started studying at Rikkyo University but ended up graduating from the Tokyo College of Photography (currently Tokyo Polytechnic University).[1][2] He was initially a movie stills photographer at Nikkatsu before launching his own production company, Saito Productions, and directing his first film, Sasayaki 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".[2] 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.[3] His Tsugaru Jongarabushi was selected the best film of 1973 in the Kinema Junpo poll of critics.[4] Saitō continued directing into his seventies and also made some documentaries.[2] He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette) in 2000.[5]

Selected filmography

References
  1. "Saitō Kōichi". Nihon jinmei daijiten+Plus. Kōdansha. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  2. "Koichi Saito: film director and photographer". The Times. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  3. "1972-nen". Mainichi Konkūru. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  4. Gerow, Aaron. "Saito Koichi." Tangemania: Aaron Gerow's Japanese Film Page. 29 November 2009. Accessed 29 November 2009
  5. "Haru no hōshō to jokun". Cinema Topics Online. 29 April 2000. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
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