Shōhei Imamura

Shōhei Imamura
今村昌平
Born(1926-09-15)15 September 1926
Died30 May 2006(2006-05-30) (aged 79)
Tokyo, Japan
Alma materWaseda University
OccupationsFilm director, screenwriter, producer
Years active1951–2002
MovementJapanese New Wave
AwardsPalme d'Or (1983, 1997)

Shōhei Imamura (今村昌平, Imamura Shōhei; 15 September 1926 – 30 May 2006) was a Japanese film director. His main interest as a filmmaker lay in the depiction of the lower strata of Japanese society. A key figure in the Japanese New Wave, who continued working into the 21st century, Imamura is the only director from Japan to win two Palme d'Or awards, doing so with The Ballad of Narayama (1983) and The Eel (1997).