**Kaneto Shindō (1912-2012)** was a prolific Japanese director and screenwriter, a central figure in post-war Japanese independent cinema. His vast body of work, often characterized by a raw and naturalistic style, explores the depths of the human condition, poverty, the scars of war, and sexuality, often through the lens of resilient female characters.

His masterpieces include *Children of Hiroshima* (1952), a powerful testimony to the atomic bomb, and *The Naked Island* (1960), an almost dialogue-free odyssey about a peasant family's struggle for survival. Other iconic films include the folk horror films *Onibaba* (1964) and *Kuroneko* (1968), which blend realism and the supernatural. Shindō was able to tell universal stories with a unique perspective, cementing his role as a master of independent visual storytelling.