Ayako WAKAO – Magnificent Icon Of Japanese Cinema

Ayako WAKAO is one of the most famous actresses of the studio era in Japanese cinema. She received the Kinema Junpo Award along with the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actress in the years 1962 and 1966. In 2010 she was proclaimed “All Time Best Actress” by the Japanese film journal Eiga Hiho. At first associated with the image of the relatable girl next door in productions mostly aimed at a young audience, she broadened her range from the late 1950s onward, regularly portraying passionate and independent women. A special focus within our retrospective lies on her frequent collaboration with director Yasuzo MASUMURA, which in itself is quite representative of her versatility. The retrospective presents works featuring WAKAO by prominent figures such as Yasujiro OZU, Kon ICHIKAWA, and Yuzo KAWASHIMA.

In cooperation with the Japan Foundation Tokyo and Japanisches Kulturinstitut Köln