{{Short description|Japanese documentary filmmaker}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Kazuhiro Soda | native_name = 想田 和弘 | native_name_lang = jpn | image = Kauhiro Soda (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = Soda at the 68th Annual Peabody Awards | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1970}} | birth_place = Tochigi Prefecture, Japan | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | alma_mater = University of Tokyo {{small|(BA)}}<br>School of Visual Arts {{small|(BFA)}} | occupation = Documentary filmmaker }} {{Nihongo|'''Kazuhiro Soda'''|想田 和弘|Sōda Kazuhiro|born 1970 in Tochigi Prefecture}} is a Japanese documentary filmmaker and author based in New York City. He is known for his observational method of documentary filmmaking.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/vertigo_magazine/issue-19-august-2008/observations-on-j-democracy/|title=Observations on J-Democracy|last=Armstrong|first=Owen|date=August 2008|publisher=Vertigo Magazine|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref>
Soda obtained a degree in religious studies from the University of Tokyo in 1993 and a BFA in filmmaking from the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he has remained since, in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whydemocracy.net/film/5|title=Why Democracy? Director Biography|publisher=Whydemocracy.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421171408/http://www.whydemocracy.net/film/5|archive-date=21 April 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=2012-05-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.sva.edu/2011/02/kazuhiro-soda-at-moma-documentary-fortnight/|title=Kazuhiro Soda at MoMA Documentary Fortnight|website=blog.sva.edu|access-date=2019-05-11|archive-date=11 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511195352/https://blog.sva.edu/2011/02/kazuhiro-soda-at-moma-documentary-fortnight/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Career == Soda worked as a television director for NHK from 1997 to 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kazuhirosoda.com/filmography|title=Filmography {{!}} 想田和弘 {{!}} Kazuhiro Soda|website=kazuhirosoda|language=en|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref>
In 2005, he shot ''Campaign (Senkyo)'' (2007, 120 minutes), depicting a political campaign in Kawasaki, Japan by Kazuhiko Yamauchi, an inexperienced outsider candidate officially endorsed by the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party. When completed, it was invited to the forum section of Berlin International Film Festival in 2007.<ref name="variety200703013">{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=features2007&content=jump&jump=review&dept=berlin&nav=Rberlin&articleid=VE1117932969&starting=11|title=Campaign|last=Elley|first=Derek|date=1 March 2007|work=Variety @ Berlin|publisher=Reed Business Information|access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref> PBS broadcast a 52-minute version, which won the Peabody Award in 2008.<ref name="pbs3">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/2009/04/campaign_wins_a_peabody.php|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415140837/http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/2009/04/campaign_wins_a_peabody.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 April 2013|title="Campaign" Wins a Peabody!|last=Xu|first=Ruiyan|date=7 April 2009|work=POV - Blog|publisher=American Documentary, Inc.|access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref> The TV version was broadcast under a different title, ''Campaign! The Kawasaki Candidate'' as part of the ''Why Democracy?'' series, a global media event co-produced by 33 broadcasters around the world, including the BBC, CBC, and NHK. The 120-minute theatrical version won the Best Documentary Award at the Belgrade International Documentary Film Festival in 2008.
From 2005 to 2007, Soda shot ''Mental (Seishin)'' (2008, 135 minutes), which focuses on the lives of patients in a small mental clinic Chorale Okayama in Japan. The film was world-premiered at the Pusan International Film Festival in 2008, and won the Best Documentary Award (PIFF Mecenat Award) there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000556/2008/1/|title=Pusan International Film Festival (2008)|website=IMDb|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref> It also won the Best Documentary Award at the Dubai International Film Festival in December 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0001565/2008/1/|title=Dubai International Film Festival (2008)|website=IMDb|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref> Other awards include Special Jury Mention at the 2009 Miami International Film Festival, Outstanding Documentary Award at the 2009 Hong Kong International Film Festival,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2164608/awards|title=Kazuhiro Sôda|website=IMDb|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref> and Inter-religious Jury Prize at Visions du Reel in 2009.<ref name="signis3">{{cite web|url=http://www.signis.net/article.php3?id_article=3201|title=Interreligious Prize in Nyon 2009|date=29 April 2009|publisher=Signis|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724233711/http://www.signis.net/article.php3?id_article=3201|archive-date=24 July 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref>
In September 2010, Soda premiered a documentary, ''Peace'' (2010, 75 minutes), as the opening film of the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2010/09/141_72662.html|title=Korea Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002173337/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2010/09/141_72662.html|archive-date=2 October 2012|url-status=live|access-date=2012-05-07}}</ref> ''Peace'' depicts the lives of people with disabilities and cats in Okayama, Japan, and was initially commissioned by DMZ Docs as a short documentary. ''Peace'' later won the Audience Award at Tokyo Filmex,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://filmex.net/2010/en/competition.html|title=Tokyo Filmex official site|publisher=Filmex.net|access-date=2012-05-07}}</ref> Buyens-Chagoll Award at Visions du Reel,<ref>[http://www.visionsdureel.ch/en/prize-winners.html Visions du Reel Official Site] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406042756/http://www.visionsdureel.ch/en/prize-winners.html|date=6 April 2010}}</ref> and Best Documentary Award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.<ref>[http://www.hkiff.org.hk/eng/news/detail/61.html HKIFF official site] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20110510095407/http://www.hkiff.org.hk/eng/news/detail/61.html|date=10 May 2011}}</ref>
In 2009, Soda started shooting ''Theater 1'' and ''Theatre 2'', a documentary series about a playwright/theater director Oriza Hirata and his company, Seinendan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999830|title=Kazuhiro Soda set for biopic|last=Meza|first=Ed|date=9 February 2009|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919034446/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999830|archive-date=19 September 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref> The series was world-premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2012, and won the Young Jury's Prize at the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes, France in 2012.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}
==Works==
===Fiction films=== * ''A Night in New York'' (1995), writer/director/editor * ''A Flower and a Woman'' (1995), writer/director/editor * ''Freezing Sunlight'' (1996), writer/director/editor * ''The Flicker'' (1997), writer/director/editor
===Documentary films=== thumb|Kazuhiro Soda, Kasuhiko Yamauchi and the crew of POV- Campaign * ''Campaign'' (2007), writer/director/editor/producer * ''Mental'' (2008), writer/director/editor/producer * ''Peace'' (2010), writer/director/editor/producer * ''Theatre 1'' (2012), writer/director/editor/producer * ''Theatre 2'' (2012), writer/director/editor/producer * ''Campaign 2'' (2013), writer/director/editor/producer * ''Oyster Factory'' (2015), writer/director/editor/producer * ''The Big House'' (2018), director/editor/producer *''Inland Sea'' (2018), director/editor/producer *''Zero'' (2020), director/editor/producer * ''The Cats of Gokogu Shrine'' (2024), director/editor/producer
===Books=== * ''Mental Illness and Mosaic'' (Chuohoki Publishing), 2009 {{ISBN|978-4-8058-3014-7}} * ''The Reason Why I Make Documentaries'' (Kodansha Publishing), 2010 {{ISBN|4062881136}} * ''Theatre vs. Film - Can a Documentary Capture Fiction?'' (Iwanami Publishing), 2012 {{ISBN|4000222880}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.kazuhirosoda.com/ Official Website] *[https://www.eaffi.ie/conversation/zero-/ An English-language interview with Soda by Tony Tracy] *[https://documentary-campaign.blogspot.com/ Official blog] {{in lang|ja}} *{{IMDb name|id=02164608|name=Kazuhiro Soda}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Soda, Kazuhiro}} Category:Japanese documentary filmmakers Category:People from Tochigi Prefecture Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:University of Tokyo alumni