Japanese movie director Hirokazu Koreeda wins Robert Bresson Prize at Venice International Film Festival

By Takashi Oki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

14:57 JST, September 7, 2022

VENICE — Japanese film director Hirokazu Koreeda, 60, was awarded the Robert Bresson Prize in Venice on Tuesday as one of the official events of the 79th Venice International Film Festival.

The prize is organized by the Ente dello Spettacolo Foundation, which works to promote and popularize Italian film culture.

Named after Robert Bresson, a French film director who remained true to his own aesthetics, the prize is given to film creators who have pursued the spiritual meaning of life and made significant achievements in the process. Past honorees include Greek director Theo Angelopoulos and British director Ken Loach.

During his speech at the award ceremony, Koreeda remarked that he always felt the presence of Bresson close to him when making films and would like to take on new projects until the end as Bresson did.