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Neo Sora

Neo Sora

Director, cinematographer and writer · New York City, New York

Venice award nominee · Independent Spirit Award nominee

Neo Sora is a Japanese-American filmmaker, translator, and artist living and working between New York and Tokyo. His works have been written up in Variety and Cahiers du Cinéma, and recently, Filmmaker Magazine has named Neo one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film. His installation and video artworks have been shown around the globe at the 2019 Singapore Biennale, the 2019 Dojima River Biennale, Watari-um Museum of Contemporary Art, and the 2017 Reborn-Art Festival, among others.

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Biography from TMDB.

From
New York City, New York
Works as
Director, cinematographer and writer
Titles
5 on MovieCove · 19 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 155 days to Oct 26Up 104% in 30 days

What are Neo Sora's films like?

Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Ideas and Self.

Themes

share of theme weight
Ideas
31%
Self
29%
Survival
25%
Society
15%
Mortality3 titles, browse their movies with this themeArt2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 4 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 2 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0

Gentle: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their gentle movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 2 · Charged 2 · Intense 0

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 3 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0

Casual: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their casual movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 2 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0

Affecting: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their affecting movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

A split, not a type: Easy watch 2 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 1

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 3 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Melancholic
4
Contemplative
3
Tense
1
Bittersweet
1
Hopeful
1
Other
1

How their films linger

Bittersweet2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Neo Sora's films?

As of October 24, 2026, all 5 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Subscription and free streaming for Neo Sora's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

19 credits, 5 with a MovieCove page.

  • Masao Adachi Takes a Passport Photo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Cinematographer · Actor

  • A Very Straight Neck (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Director · Writer

  • FUKUSHIMA with BÉLA TARR (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Actor

  • Happyend(2024)

    Director · Screenplay · as Cop (voice)

    Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films

  • Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus(2023)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films

  • Sugar Glass Bottle (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Director · Writer

  • Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano 2022 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    Director · Editor

  • No Boundaries: A Cure Conversation (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    Director · Camera Operator

  • Beba(2021)

    Additional Camera

    Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films

  • Ainu Neno An Ainu (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Director · Cinematographer · Co-Editor

  • The Chicken (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)

    Director · Screenplay

  • Ryuichi Sakamoto: Improvisation for Sonic Cure (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)

    Director · Editor

  • The Inconceivable Mountain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Cinematographer

  • Ryuichi Sakamoto: async at the Park Avenue Armory(2018)

    Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films

  • Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda(2017)

    Cinematographer

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • Seachange (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director

  • Sirens (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director

  • Boycott Rhythm Machine Worldwide Versus I (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Director · Co-Producer · Editor

  • Three Daughters (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)

    Director

Career shape

A full career of 19 titles from 2014 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Happyend (2024)

$1.2M worldwide

Highest rated

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus (2023)

Midcredits 98th

Most popular right now

Happyend (2024)

Film career

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting3 of 19: 1 only acting, 2 with another roleDirecting13 of 19: 4 only directing, 9 with another roleWriting4 of 19: 0 only writing, 4 with another roleProducing1 of 19: 0 only producing, 1 with another roleCinematography5 of 19: 3 only cinematography, 2 with another roleEditing4 of 19: 0 only editing, 4 with another roleOther crew2 of 19: 1 only other crew, 1 with another role

19 titles, 10 with more than one role — directing and cinematography overlap on 1 of them.

By decade

2010s7 · crew2020s12 · 3 acting · 11 crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

Awards

2 major nominations and no wins, 2024–2026.

  1. 2026
    • Independent Spirit Award, nominated
  2. 2024
    • Venice award, nominated · Best Film

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Neo Sora's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 90th percentile, the median of all 5; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 92nd percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

92ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Approval · how many liked their films

92ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Reach · how many have seen their films

77thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 4

Midcredits score across 5 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up4
  • 50th to 74th1

Shape of the crowd

2 of their 5 titles are Universally Loved.

  • Universally Loved2
  • Cult Classic1
  • Crowd Pleaser2

Most loved · director

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus (2023)

Midcredits 98th · 87% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 83/100 and the pacing 68/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Neo Sora work with?

People who share at least 2 of Neo Sora's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Eric Nyari shares the most, 4.

Directors

Actors

Cinematographers and editors

Producers