Kei Kumai

{{Short description|Japanese film director (1930–2007)}} {{Infobox person | name = Kei Kumai | image = Kei Kumai.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1930|06|01}} | birth_place = [[Azumino]], [[Nagano Prefecture]], Japan{{cn|date=August 2025}} | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2007|05|23|1930|06|01}} | occupation = [[Film director]] | spouse = [[Akiko Kumai]] }}

{{nihongo|'''Kei Kumai'''|熊井啓|Kumai Kei|1 June 1930 – 23 May 2007}} was a Japanese film director. After his studies in literature at Shinshu University, he began work as a director's assistant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sankei.co.jp/enak/2007/glace/may/kiji/23obits_kumaikei.html|title=映画監督の熊井啓氏が死去|publisher=Fuji Sankei Shinbun|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref>

He won the [[Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award]] for his second film, ''[[A Chain of Islands|Nihon rettō]]'', in 1965.<ref name="DGJ1">{{cite web|url=http://www.dgj.or.jp/award_g/|title=Nihon Eiga Kantoku Kyōkai Shinjinshō|publisher=Directors Guild of Japan|language=ja|access-date=11 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122022302/http://dgj.or.jp/award_g/|archive-date=22 November 2010}}</ref> His 1972 film ''[[Shinobu Kawa]]'' was entered into the [[8th Moscow International Film Festival]].<ref name="Moscow1973">{{cite web|url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1973 |title=8th Moscow International Film Festival (1973) |access-date=2013-01-03 |work=MIFF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116194922/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1973 |archive-date=2013-01-16 }}</ref> His 1973 film ''[[Rise, Fair Sun]]'' was entered into the [[24th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="imdb">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203316/awards |title=IMDB.com: Awards for Rise, Fair Sun |access-date=2010-07-02 |work=imdb.com}}</ref>

''[[Sandakan No. 8]]'' received widespread acclaim for tackling the issue of a woman forced into prostitution in Borneo before the outbreak of World War II. [[Kinuyo Tanaka]] won the [[Silver Bear for Best Actress|Best Actress Award]] at the [[25th Berlin International Film Festival]] for her performance.<ref name="berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1975/03_preistr_ger_1975/03_Preistraeger_1975.html |title=Berlinale 1975: Prize Winners |access-date=2010-07-11 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref> The film was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] at the [[48th Academy Awards]].<ref name="Oscars1976">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1976 |title=The 48th Academy Awards (1976) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2012-03-18 |work=oscars.org}}</ref>

Kumai's follow-up film was 1976's ''[[Cape of North]]'', starring French actress [[Claude Jade]] as a Swiss nun who falls in love with a Japanese engineer on a trip from Marseilles to [[Yokohama]]. His 1986 film ''[[The Sea and Poison]]'' won the [[Jury Grand Prix|Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize]] at the [[37th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale 1987">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1987/03_preistr_ger_1987/03_Preistraeger_1987.html |title=Berlinale: 1987 Prize Winners |access-date=2011-03-03 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref> In 1992, his film ''[[Luminous Moss (film)|Luminous Moss]]'' was entered into the [[42nd Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale 1992">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1992/02_programm_1992/02_Programm_1992.html |title=Berlinale: 1992 Programme |access-date=2011-05-27 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>

Other works include ''[[Death of a Tea Master]]'' starring [[Toshirō Mifune]] as [[Sen no Rikyū]] (Silver Lion at the [[46th Venice International Film Festival]]), and the 2002 film ''[[The Sea Is Watching]]'', based on [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s posthumous script.

Kumai was married to the writer and researcher [[Akiko Kumai]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-10-02 |title=作家の熊井明子さん死去、84歳「私の部屋のポプリ」シリーズ：朝日新聞デジタル |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASSB21VN3SB2UCVL018M.html |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=朝日新聞デジタル |language=ja}}</ref> He died in 2007 at age 76.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-05-25 |title=Kei Kumai, 76, Japanese Director Who Specialized in True Stories, Dies (Published 2007) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/movies/25kumai.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231210194230/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/movies/25kumai.html |archive-date=2023-12-10 |access-date=2024-12-30 |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Filmography== * ''[[Mutekiga Ore o Yondeiru]]'' (1960) (screenplay) * ''[[The Long Death]]'' (1964) * ''[[A Chain of Islands]]'' (1965) * ''[[The Sands of Kurobe]]'' (1968) * ''[[Apart from Life]]'' (1970) * ''[[The Long Darkness|Shinobu Kawa]]'' (1972) * ''[[Rise, Fair Sun]]'' (1973) * ''[[Sandakan No. 8]]'' (1974) * ''[[Cape of the North]]'' (1976) * ''[[Ogin-sama]]'' (1978) * ''[[Tempyō no Iraka]]'' (1980) * ''[[Nihon no Atsui Hibi Bōsatsu: Shimoyama Jiken]]'' (1981) * ''[[The Sea and Poison (film)|The Sea and Poison]]'' (1986) * ''[[Death of a Tea Master]]'' (1989) * ''[[Shikibu Monogatari]]'' (1990) * ''[[Luminous Moss (film)|Luminous Moss]]'' (1992) * ''[[Deep River (film)|Deep River]]'' (1995) * ''[[To Love (1997 film)|To Love]]'' (1997) * ''[[Darkness in the Light (film)|Darkness in the Light]]'' (2001) * ''[[The Sea Is Watching]]'' (2002)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{imdb name|0474743|Kei Kumai}} * {{jmdb name|id=0091730|name=Kei Kumai}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumai Kei}} [[Category:1930 births]] [[Category:2007 deaths]] [[Category:Japanese film directors]] [[Category:Place of birth missing]] [[Category:Place of death missing]]