After graduating from Tokyo Zokei, Suwa began directing television documentary films, and worked with directors such as Sōgo Ishii and Masashi Yamamoto.

Also during the same year, he guest-appeared in and co-created the Sōgo Ishii-directed samurai epic Gojoe Reisenki: GOJEI.

He directed and wrote the segment representing the 2nd arrondissement, filmed at Place des Victoires.

In 2009, Suwa directed jointly with Hippolyte Girardot Yuki & Nina, another French-Japanese bilingual movie which was shot in both France and Japan.

In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Nobuhiro Suwa signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.