YU SHIBUYA

Beyond JAPAN -Filmmaker- | [Website] [IMDB]

Yu Shibuya is a director, screenwriter, and playwright based in Tokyo, Japan. He holds an MFA in creative writing poetry from Purdue University. "Jitensha," an international co- production short film he wrote and coproduced, was an official selection at over 20 major film festivals globally, including the 66th Venice Film Festival.

Shibuya was nominated for the International Emmy Awards (Documentary Category) for story editing “WHO I AM Season 2 - Beatrice Vio." In 2018, he wrote and produced an international feature film entitled CICADA which won grand prizes at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Guam International Film Festival, and the Pan Pacific Film Festival. In 2020, he was selected as an NHK Sundance fellow for his original screenplay AN ARGUMENT FOR BEAUTY which is currently being developed under a different title.

Shibuya runs an award-winning theater company called Bokuyoken where he produces his original plays. He has published three books: two collections of monologues and a collection of his full-length plays. They are being translated for international release. He teaches Acting in English at tori studio, a major acting studio in Tokyo.

His first feature film as writer / director, entitled UMBRELLAS FOR MIHARU will be in theaters January 2025.