Tokyo native Susumu Hani was one of the earlier directors involved in what later became known as "Nuberu Bagu" ('nouvelle vogue' or 'new wave') cinema of Japan. He unusually begun work outside the Japanese studio system and was employed by Iwanami Eiga, the film unit of a publishing company, before also working for the likes of Shochiku and Toho. His methods were outside the norms of conventional film making and included a series of short documentaries. However, even his first feature movie, 1961's "Bad Boys", had him not offer the participants a script who are filmed as themselves without direction. It won the Kinema Jump Prize.

His 1962 film Mitasareta seikatsu was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival.His 1963 documentary film "Children Hand in Hand" was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival winning him a Special Diploma. One of his most famous films is "Nanami: The Inferno of First Love" (初恋・地獄篇 - Hatsukoi Jigokuhen, 1968), which Hani co-scripted with Terayama Shuji.

He married actress Hidari Sachiko who was in his "She And He" and 2Bride Of The Andes" movies, but they divorced after eighteen years of marriage.

(Source: IMDb) Edit Biography