Ryusuke Hamaguchi was born in 1978. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Hamaguchi spent several years working in the commercial film industry before entering the graduate program in film at Tokyo University of the Arts.

He made his festival debut in San Sebastian and Tokyo FILMeX in 2008 with his graduation film PASSION. He then directed the Japanese-Korean co-production THE DEPTHS (2010), INTIMACIES (2012), and a series of documentaries, THE TOHOKU TRILOGY (THE SOUND OF THE WAVES, VOICES FROM THE WAVES, and STORYTELLERS), co-directed by Ko Sakai, from 2011 to 2013.

Hamaguchi made his first major appearance on the global stage with HAPPY HOUR, his 317-minute feature film, which premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival and went on to win major awards at numerous festivals worldwide. He followed this up with ASAKO I & II, which debuted in Competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival to universal acclaim. Hamaguchi additionally served as the co-writer of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s WIFE OF A SPY, which won the Silver Lion at the 2020 Venice Film Festival.

In 2021, Hamaguchi’s WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize.

His latest work, DRIVE MY CAR, premiered in Competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Best Screenplay Prize, the FIPRESCI International Critics’ Prize, and the Ecumenical Jury Prize. DRIVE MY CAR was awarded Best Film at the 2021 Gotham Awards, and at both the 2021 New York Critics Circle Awards and the 2021 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, as well as winning Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 2022 National Society of Film Critics Awards.

It has since been nominated for Best Picture, Best International Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director at the 94th Academy Awards.