Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1962, Hirokazu Koreeda graduated from Waseda University in 1987 before joining TV Man Union, where he directed several award-winning documentary programmes. In 2011, he founded his own production company, BUNBUKU.
In 1995, his directorial debut, Maborosi, based on the original novel by Teru Miyamoto, won the Golden Osella at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival. After Life (1998), released in more than 30 countries, brought him international recognition.
In 2001, Distance was selected in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, while his fourth feature, Nobody Knows (2004), attracted major attention when Yuya Yagira became the youngest person ever to receive the Best Actor Award at Cannes.
In 2006, Hana, a film centred on revenge, marked Koreeda’s first venture into the period film genre. In 2008, he presented the family drama Still Walking, inspired by his own personal experiences, which received widespread international acclaim.
In 2009, Air Doll had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival and was widely praised for opening up a new frontier in the portrayal of a sensual romantic fantasy.
In 2011, I Wish won the Best Screenplay Award at the 59th San Sebastián International Film Festival. In 2012, Koreeda made his television directorial debut with the series Going Home.
His feature film Like Father, Like Son (2013) won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, received Audience Awards at the San Sebastián, Vancouver and São Paulo International Film Festivals, and surpassed the box-office records of his previous films in several territories.
In 2015, Our Little Sister premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival and received five awards, including Best Picture and Best Director at the Japan Academy Prize, as well as the Jury Prize at the San Sebastián Film Festival.
In 2016, After the Storm premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, The Third Murder premiered in Competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival.
In 2018, Shoplifters won the Palme d’Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, the award for Best Foreign Film at the 11th Japanese Cinema Oscars, as well as numerous other accolades, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
In 2019, his first film made outside Japan, The Truth, starring French cinema legends Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, opened in Competition at the 76th Venice International Film Festival.
In 2022, his Korean debut, Broker, won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, while Song Kang-ho received the Best Actor Award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.
In 2023, his first Netflix series, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, was released worldwide, while his latest feature film, Monster, won the Queer Palm and earned Yuji Sakamoto the Best Screenplay Award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
More recently, in 2025, Koreeda adapted and directed the Netflix series Asura, a remake of Kuniko Mukoda’s iconic family drama, earning him the Best Director Award at the 20th Seoul International Drama Awards.
In 2026, his feature film Sheep in the Box was selected in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. That same year, Look Back will be presented in Competition at the Venice International Film Festival.
