Directing
Hirobumi Watanabe
Born January 1, 1982 · Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan (age 44)
Born in 1982 in Otawara, Tochigi prefecture, Watanabe Hirobumi graduated in Japanese literature and, after graduation, entered the Japan Academy of Moving Images. His graduation project, the 41-minute film The Light Pig of August (Hachigatsu no Karui Buta), received the Grand Prix at the Fuji Film Lovers Festival, as well as other awards. In 2013, together with his brother Yuji, composer of film m…
Known For
Over the Town · 2019Over the Town
★ 7.32019
MovieComedyRomance
Arakawa Ao lives happily on his own and hardly ever leaves Shimokitazawa, where he works at a vintage clothing shop, goes to occasional concerts and hangs out at his favorite bar. Then, he gets an unusual request to appear in an independent film.
Love Will Tear Us Apart · 2023Love Will Tear Us Apart
★ 5.52023
MovieHorrorRomance
Wakaba saves her classmate Koki who was being bullied. From then on, people who are involved with Wakaba are killed one after another. When the murderer is found out, Wakaba realizes what true love is.
I’m Glad to Be Alive · 2022I’m Glad to Be Alive
★ 7.02022
MovieActionDrama
Professional boxer Sota Kusunoki has gained popularity for his fighting style, where he goes headlong into his opponents. However, years of fighting have taken their toll on his body, and he is forced to retire by a doctor's stoppage. He takes the opportunity of his retirement to marry his girlfriend, Sachiko, and start a new life, but he is completely useless in society and is made acutely aware of the harsh reality of his situation. One day, a mysterious man who claims to be a fan of Sota's receives an offer to fight in an underground martial arts tournament, where he will fight for a large sum of money and where his desires are thriving... The prospect of fighting once again revives his almost forgotten excitement, and his adrenaline surges as if to fill the emptiness in him. Will the madness and honesty of a man obsessed with fighting have a happy ending or a bad one?
Life Finds A Way · 2019Life Finds A Way
★ 5.82019
MovieComedy
Born out of every artist’s creative crisis, the search for the next topic, Hirobumi WATANABE presents his latest film, dealing with the question of what his film should be about. The director stages himself as he idles away his days, delivering endless monologs during car rides, sleeping on the floor at his grandma’s house, or philosophizing over video games and the FIFA World Cup.
Kamata Prelude · 2020Kamata Prelude
★ 8.02020
MovieDrama
A four-part film done in the unique style of each director, Matusbayashi Urara gives a portrayal of a struggling actress named Machiko who lives in Kamata. Machiko is the central axis of the movie as the film comically depicts what it means to be a "woman" and an "actress" in society through showing the patterns of life as conducted by her and the people that surround her.
We Are Aliens · 2024We Are Aliens
★ 5.02024
MovieDramaComedy
One day, while Seiya was calling everybody on the phone to tell them "It's me, thank you" on the rooftop of a building, a strange creature with emerald-blue fur, something he had never seen before, descended from the sky. The creature, along with its companions, claimed they had come to exterminate human race. However, through conversations with the humans they encountered, they gradually began to understand each other...
Rainy Blue · 2025Rainy Blue
2025
MovieDrama
Aoi is a 17-year-old girl uncertain about her future, but one thing she’s sure of is her pride in being a junior to the legendary actor RYU Chishu, who graduated from her school a century ago. Unfortunately, she’s the only member of her high school’s film club, which now faces closure as her graduation approaches. One summer afternoon, she discovers an old, tattered script in the clubroom, sparking her imagination—who could have written it? As her thoughts run wild, Her strained relationship with her father, a homeroom teacher whose stance remains unclear—friend or foe— and navigates her interactions with a group of eccentric classmates.
A Light Pig of August · 2008A Light Pig of August
2008
Movie
Hirobumi Watanabe's student film at the Japanese Institute of the Moving Image.
Filmography
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