Shindo Kaneto was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and author. He directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include Children of Hiroshima, The Naked Island, Onibaba, Kuroneko and A Last Note.

Shindo was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, and he made several films about Hiroshima and the atomic bomb. Like his early mentor Mizoguchi Kenji, many of his films feature strong female characters. He was a pioneer of independent film production in Japan, founding a company called Kindai Eiga Kyokai. He continued working as a scriptwriter, director and author until his death at the age of 100.

The strongest and most apparent themes in Shindo's work involve social criticism of poverty, women and sexuality. Shindo has described himself as a socialist. (Source: Wikipedia)