Biography
Fumio Kamei (1908–1987) was a Japanese documentary and fiction film director known for his politically charged works. Influenced by Soviet montage theory, he began his career at Photo Chemical Laboratories (PCL), making propaganda films about Japan’s war in China. His 1939 film Fighting Soldiers was banned for its unflinching portrayal of exhausted troops, and he later became the first director to lose his license under the 1939 Film Law and the only filmmaker arrested under the Peace Preservation Law. After World War II, Kamei helped reorganize Nippon Eiga-sha and directed The Japanese Tragedy (1946), a documentary critical of Japan’s imperialist past, which was ultimately censored. He continued making politically engaged documentaries and fiction films, tackling issues such as U.S. military bases in Japan, nuclear weapons, social discrimination, and environmental destruction.
Filmography
Cast Credits
No cast credits available.
Crew
Crew Credits
All Living Things Are Friends—Lullabies of Birds, Insects and Fish
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1987
All Must Live: People, Insects and Birds
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1984
Men Are All Brothers
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1960
Living in a Rough Sea
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1958
Living in a Rough Sea
Role: Editor
MOVIE • 1958
The World Is Terrified: The Reality of the “Ash of Death”
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1957
Record of Bloodshed: Sunagawa
Role: Cinematography
MOVIE • 1957
Record of Bloodshed: Sunagawa
Role: Editor
MOVIE • 1957
Record of Bloodshed: Sunagawa
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1957
It Is Good to Live
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1956
Wheat Will Never Fall
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1955
Wheat Will Never Fall
Role: Editor
MOVIE • 1955
The People of Sunagawa
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1955
A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1953
Children of the Base
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1953
Become a Mother, Become a Woman
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1952
A Woman's Life
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1949
War and Peace
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1947
Tragedy of Japan
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1946
Kobayashi Issa
Role: Director
MOVIE • 1941