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Atsuko Hirayanagi (平栁 敦子) is a Japanese-American filmmaker, born in Nagano and raised in Chiba, Japan.

Career
She is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the The Arts with an MFA in Film Production.

While in graduate school, her second year project, Mo Ikkai, won the Grand Prix at the 2012 Short Shorts Film Festival in Asia.

Her thesis short film, Oh Lucy!, received a Tisch's First Prize Wasserman Award at the 2014 First Run Festival, and also won more than 25 awards around the globe, including prizes at Cannes Film Festival (2014) , Sundance Film Festival (2015) , and the Toronto International Film Festival (2014).

Her feature-length version of Oh Lucy! was a recipient of the 2016 Sundance/NHK Award. She was recently named one of the ″20 Rising Women Directors You Need to Know″ by IndieWire. , and was nominated at the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Feature.

Personal Life
Hirayanagi is a black belt in Kyokushin Karate, and came in 3rd place in the Los Angeles Cup Women's Category.

Atsuko currently resides in San Francisco, CA.