DCP | 2025 | Directed by Daniel Raim | United States | 140 minutes | Japanese and English
THE OZU DIARIES, from Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Daniel Raim, offers both an intimate biography and revelatory portrait of prolific Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu, one of cinema’s most original and enduring auteurs. Drawing from a treasure trove of archival materials — journals, notebooks, correspondence, photographs, interviews and unseen home movies — the film opens a rare window into Ozu’s inner world and artistic process. With Ozu’s own words as guide, and enriched by reflections from filmmakers Wim Wenders, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Tsai Ming-liang, Luc Dardenne and others, Raim traces how Ozu’s personal life informed his work, creating cinematic masterpieces such as LATE SPRING, TOKYO STORY and AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON to name a few. His precise, deceptively simple stories and signature visual style became a vehicle for poetic, humanist explorations of family, love and impermanence. Deeply rooted in Japanese culture yet universally resonant, Ozu’s work continues to shape our understanding of cinema’s possibilities.