Yoshimitsu Banno

Known for Production

Yoshimitsu Banno was a Japanese director, writer, and producer best known for his film, Godzilla vs. Hedorah. Banno joined Toho in 1955, studying under directors such as Mikio Naruse, Kengo Furusawa and Seiji Maruyama. He would begin his career as an assistant director under Akira Kurosawa. Banno would be instrumental in the revival of Godzilla at Legendary Pictures. He would serve as an executive producer for Legendary's Godzilla (2014), and following his death in 2017, received posthumous credits as an executive producer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Born

March 30, 1931

Died

May 7, 2017 (age 86)

Birthplace

Imabari, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan

Filmography

31 films, 1 show

Movie DirectorRelease Date ↓All GenresAll ErasAny RatingAny Runtime

Cruel Famine Continent

1973 · 1h 30m

country: Japan

Cruel Famine Continent documents the Great Sahelian drought in West Africa and its effect on the people. The production was an attempt to pivot Toei's output from yakuza films and Toei Porn towards "global issues" and "whatever makes money", as stated by then-Toei president Shigeru Okada. Theatrical proceeds were to be shared as relief funds through the Japanese Red Cross, though the box office returns are unknown. Footage shot for the documentary by Yoshimitsu Banno would later be reused in the 1974 Toho production Prophecies of Nostradamus.

TMDB3.4

Godzilla vs. Hedorah

1971 · 1h 25m

country: Japan

An ever evolving alien life-form arrives on a comet from the Dark Gaseous Nebula and proceeds to consume pollution. Spewing mists of sulfuric acid and corrosive sludge, neither humanity nor Godzilla may be able to defeat this toxic menace.