Japanese Director Naomi Kawase Accused of Violence Towards Staff

Jun 08, 2022 | News On Japan

Jun 08, 2022 (yahoo.com) - Japanese auteur and Cannes favorite Naomi Kawase has been accused of violent behavior towards her staff and crew, including an assault that left an employee’s face swollen.

In May 2019 on the set of True Mothers, an assistant director touched Kawase to point out there was an issue with a shot. Though there is no suggestion that the contact was inappropriate, Kawase reportedly shouted “What do you think you are doing?” at the assistant director and kicked him in the stomach.

The entire cinematography team, led by Yuta Tsukinaga, resigned from the shoot following the incident. After the Tokyo-based weekly magazine and scoop factory Shukan Bunshun broke the story, Kawase said on her company’s website that the matter had been settled internally.

However, the magazine then wrote about an incident in October 2015, when Kawase reportedly assaulted a staff member at her production company Kumie’s office in Nara City. The award-winning director punched a male employee, knocking him to the ground and continuing to beat him while other staff members fled the office in fear.

When the staff returned, the victim’s face was visibly swollen. The employee, who resigned immediately, confirmed to Shukan Bunshun that the assault had taken place, but said he did not want to publicly comment on it.

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