Biography

Hiroki Ohsawa is a worldwide award-winning film and commercial director, and full-time lecturer in Filmmaking at Kinjo Gakuin University.

Ohsawa was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. He studied filmmaking and media studies at Waseda University. While still at school, he directed and produced two award-winning films, My Name Is (2012) and Why, Now, Oden? (2012), and the university's promotional film, Myth of Jinka (2013).

In 2015, after two years of working in Intercorporate Toy Sales Operations for Bandai Namco Group, Ohsawa moved to Los Angeles, California. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking from the New York Film Academy and worked as a film director for three years in Hollywood. During this time, he directed numerous award-winning films, such as Pandora's Box (2017), Princess Beard (2017), and The Alc-Man (2019), which was featured at the TCL Chinese Theater, the most iconic landmark theater in Hollywood. After that, The Ohio State University announced Ohsawa as their choice for director of their new attempt for the first time anywhere in the world: a cinematic Japanese language educational web series, NihonGO NOW! (2020).

After returning to Japan in 2020, Ohsawa has been working on films and commercials in Tokyo for the Ministry of Education, Hankyu Department Stores, and many other clients. His recently directed movie, The Deal (2024), was awarded and nominated around the world, and in total, his works have earned him 15 awards and 21 nominations in 7 countries.

In addition to being a director, he is also an active lecturer in Filmmaking and Media Studies at several universities, including Waseda University, Tokyo Tech, the University of Pennsylvania, and Kinjo Gakuin University. Meanwhile, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Media and Information Literacy at the graduate school of Tohoku University to enhance his visual storytelling skills from an academic perspective.
- IMDb mini biography by: Hiroki Ohsawa