This autumn, we pay tribute to one of the most influential filmmakers of the twentieth century: Akira Kurosawa. This focus, in collaboration with Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam and Cinema Lumière, is the most comprehensive in Flanders. The restored films have already attracted 12,000 visitors!

As part of Tsukuru, we are screening two highlights from his oeuvre: the majestic Seven Samurai (26 September) and the ironic Yojimbo (30 September). In October, Ikiru and High and Low follow, two completely different films that together underline Kurosawa’s versatility.

Kurosawa (1910–1998) was the first Japanese director to break through in the West, and his influence can hardly be overestimated: George Lucas based Star Wars on The Hidden Fortress, Sergio Leone based A Fistful of Dollars on Yojimbo, and Peter Jackson studied the battles in Seven Samurai closely before embarking on The Lord of the Rings. But it is not imitation that keeps Kurosawa’s films relevant – it is their power, their sense of humanity, and their cinematic ingenuity.