Naomi Kawase 河瀨直美 Kawase Naomi born May 30 1969 is a Japanese film director She graduated from Visual Arts Osaka in 1989 Many of her works have been documentaries including Embracing about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child and Katatsumori about the grandmother who raised her Aside from being a filmmaker she is the founder and Executive Director for the Nara International Film Festival