SABU
- BIRTH
- 1964
PROFILE
He debuted as a director with "DANGAN RUNNER" (1996), got his work screened in the Panorama category at Berlin International Film Festival and won Best New Director at Yokohama Film Festival, which made SABU, a new prominent video creator, well-known to the whole world.
After that, he kept on enthusiastically producing works focusing on entertainment works that perfectly incorporate elements of comedy. The works he directed include: "Kanikosen" (2009), " BUNNY DROP " (2011), "Chasuke's Journey" (2015) nominated in the Competition category at Berlin International Film Festival, "MR.LONG" (2017) premiered at Japan at Tokyo International Film Festival and "jam" (2018) which won the Russian Film Critics' Award at Moscow International Film Festival.
His latest work is the movie "My Blood & Bones in a Flowing Galaxy" which was adapted from Yuyuko Takemiya's bestselling novel. It was officially nominated in the Competition category at Warsaw Film Festival. He participated in "Kinou Yori Akaku Ashita Yori Aoku", the 4th part of the short film project "CINEMA FIGHTERS project" coming out in the autumn of 2021 which combines poetry, music and videos. He served as the director of "BLUE BIRD" (starring Reo Sano) which is one work of "Kinou Yori Akaku Ashita Yori Aoku" (out in the autumn of 2021), the 4th batch of the short film project "CINEMA FIGHTERS project" which combines poetry, music and videos. He also directed the movie "DANCING MARY" starring EXILE NAOTO which won the Jury's Special Award at Porto International Film Festival 2020, one of the world's three largest festivals specializing in fantasy films.
WORKS
Filmography
Film
＜Feature Film＞
2021"DANCING MARY" 【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: EXILE NAOTO, Aina Yamada, Ryo Ishibashi and others
2021"My Blood & Bones in a Flowing Galaxy"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Taishi Nakagawa, Anna Ishii and others
2018"jam"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Sho Aoyagi, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Keita Machida and others
2017"MR.LONG"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Chen Chang, Sho Aoyagi, Eleven Yao and others
2017"Happiness"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Masatoshi Nagase
2016"DIY"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Jiyoung, Sahel Rosa, Natalie Emmons and others
2015"Chasuke's Journey"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama, Ito Ohno, Yusuke Iseya, Ren Osugi, Hiromasa Taguchi, Susumu Terajima, Tina Tamashiro
2013"Miss ZOMBIE"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Ayaka Komatsu, Makoto Togashi, Toru Tezuka
2011"BUNNY DROP"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama, Karina, Mana Ashida, Mirei Kiritani, Jun Fubuki, Baijaku Nakamura
2009"Kanikosen"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Ryuhei Matsuda, Hirofumi Arai, Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Hidetoshi Nishijima
2005"Dead Run"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Yuya Tegoshi, Hanae Kan, Miki Nakatani, Susumu Terajima, Ren Osugi, Etsushi Toyokawa
2005"HOLD UP DOWN"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, Yoshihiko Inohara, Go Morita, Ken Miyake, Junichi Okada
2003"Hard Luck Hero"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, Yoshihiko Inohara, Go Morita, Ken Miyake, Junichi Okada
2003"The Blessing Bell"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Susumu Terajima, Naomi Nishida, Seijun Suzuki, Ryoko Shinohara, Toru Masuoka and others
2002"DRIVE"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Shinichi Tsutsumi, Ko Shibasaki, Masanobu Ando, Toshio Kakei, Susumu Terajima, Ren Osugi
2000"MONDAY"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Shinichi Tsutsumi, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Masanobu Ando, Naomi Nishida, Ren Osugi, Hideki Noda
1998"Unlucky Monkey"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Shinichi Tsutsumi, Hiroshi Shimizu, Akira Yamamoto, Ikko Suzuki, Kimika Yoshino
1997"Postman Blues"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kyoko Toyama, Keisuke Horibe, Ren Osugi
1996"DANGAN RUNNER"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Tomorowo Taguchi, Diamond★Yukai, Shinichi Tsutsumi
＜Short Film＞
2002"A1012K"【Scriptwriter & Director】
Cast: Shiho Harumi, Akiyo and others
TV Drama
2015BS SKY PerfecTV! "PANIC IN" 2 episodes【Scriptwriter & Director】
2010TV TOKYO "TROUBLE MAN" 12 episodes in total【Scriptwriter & Director】
Awards
"DANCING MARY"
Jury's Special Award at Porto International Film Festival
Honorable Mentions - Best Use of Cinematography for Narrative Intentions at Fantaspoa - International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre
Most Original Film Award at Asian Film Festival (Italy)
"jam"
The 41st Moscow International Film Festival - Russian Film Critics' Award
"Miss ZOMBIE"
The 21st Festival international du film fantastique de Gerardmer - Grand Prix Award
The 34th Porto International Film Festival - Best Film Award & Special Award
Dhaka International Film Festival - Best Script Award in Competition category
"BUNNY DROP"
CAMERA JAPAN Festival in the Netherlands - Audience Award
"Dead Run"
Syracuse International Film Festival - Best Feature Fiction Award
"The Blessing Bell"
The 53th Berlin International Film Festival -NETPAC Award
Cinemanila International Film Festival - Special Jury Award
"DRIVE"
Fantasia International Film Festival - Best Asian Film Award in the Jury category
"MONDAY"
The 50th Berlin International Film Festival - FIPRESCI Award, IFFS Judges Special Award & Don Quixote Award
Chicago International Film Festival - Gold Plaque Emerging Artist Award
"Postman Blues"
Cognac Festival du Film Policier - Best New Director
Bangkok International Film Festival - People's Choice Award
"DANGAN RUNNER"
The 18th Yokohama Film Festival - Best New Director
FAN LETTER
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