Japanese filmmaker Koji Wakamatsu passed away in hospital after a road mishap late last week. The 76-year-old filmmaker was hit by a taxi at Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward at 10 pm on October 12, 2012, and was taken to a hospital where he was in a comatose state. According to the officials from the hospital, Wakamatsu died at 11:05 pm on October 17, 2012.
The Japanese filmmaker has directed roughly 105 movies and recently won the Asian Filmmaker of the year award at the Busan International Festival which concluded last week.
Wakamatsu had started directing movies with soft porn films such as “Go, Go Second Time Virgin” in the year 1968, and later entered mainstream cinema with his contribution to the erotic drama “In the Realm of the Senses” in the year 1976.
His movie ‘Caterpillar’, which was released in 2010, was nominated for the prestigious Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The movie was based on a savage critique of Japan in 1930s. The Busan Film Festival had honoured his spirit of independent filmmaking as well as his never-ending passion for film industry. Wakamatsu, while receiving the award, said that he felt that his movies are undervalued in Japan, due to which it was a great honor for him to receive the award.
