Question 1

True or false: Kore-eda’s film 'Shoplifters' won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2018.

Accepted Answer

True. Yes, 'Shoplifters' won the top prize at Cannes, cementing his international reputation for intimate family dramas.

Question 2

True or false: Kore-eda often casts the same actors across multiple films, like Kiki Kirin and Lily Franky.

Accepted Answer

True. He frequently works with a recurring ensemble, building a sense of family through familiar faces like Kirin and Franky.

Question 3

True or false: Kore-eda's film 'Like Father, Like Son' explores nature vs. nurture through a baby-swap plot.

Accepted Answer

True. The film centers on two families whose sons were switched at birth, questioning what truly makes a parent.

Question 4

True or false: Kore-eda has never made a film outside Japan, as he prefers strictly domestic stories.

Accepted Answer

False. He directed the French-language film 'The Truth' (2019) starring Catherine Deneuve, set in Paris. So he has worked abroad.

Question 5

True or false: Before directing, Kore-eda worked as a chef in a Michelin-starred Tokyo restaurant.

Accepted Answer

False. He was actually a documentary filmmaker and TV director early in his career, not a chef. The food focus in his films is fictional.

Question 6

True or false: His film 'After Life' is based on his own experience of nearly dying in a car accident.

Accepted Answer

False. The film was inspired by his documentary work on memory and death, not a personal accident. He has never had such an incident.

Question 7

True or false: Kore-eda directed a Japanese TV drama about a fictional baseball team in the 1990s.

Accepted Answer

True. He directed the TV series 'Mōichido Kisu' (1996), but also helmed a lesser-known baseball-themed drama for NHK early in his career.

Question 8

True or false: Kore-eda’s first feature film was a documentary about a man who faked his own death.

Accepted Answer

False. His first feature was 'Maborosi' (1995), a fictional drama. The fake-death story is from an early TV documentary he produced.

Hirokazu Kore-eda Trivia Questions