As lovely and lilting as hearing Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” over a crackly record player on a snow-flecked day, Japanese filmmaker Hiroshi Okuyama’s second feature “My Sunshine” is a moving coming-of-age drama about kids facing up to the troubles of adulthood.
This gently composed story of an ice-skating coach on the island of Hokkaido, and his two young pupils, has darker dynamics under its sleeve than the emotionally generous time-to-face-the-music-of-growing-up story that’s on its surface. It’s told in furtive glances and silent pacts against a frost-dappled backdrop, the end of winter coming soon, as two adolescents form a bond on the ice rink that complicates the private life of their instructor. Japan would be wise to submit “My Sunshine,” the second feature from “Jesus” director Okuyama, for the Best International Feature Oscar. Both the glass-half-full and the glass-half-empty corners of the audience will resonate with...
This gently composed story of an ice-skating coach on the island of Hokkaido, and his two young pupils, has darker dynamics under its sleeve than the emotionally generous time-to-face-the-music-of-growing-up story that’s on its surface. It’s told in furtive glances and silent pacts against a frost-dappled backdrop, the end of winter coming soon, as two adolescents form a bond on the ice rink that complicates the private life of their instructor. Japan would be wise to submit “My Sunshine,” the second feature from “Jesus” director Okuyama, for the Best International Feature Oscar. Both the glass-half-full and the glass-half-empty corners of the audience will resonate with...
- 5/20/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Some films prioritize a strident political cause, others set out to terrify or thrill. This touching and simple story from Japanese filmmaker Hiroshi Okuyama, premiering in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, is a gentler affair, with modest ambitions that it realizes effectively. Set on a small Japanese island, the film’s slight but sweet narrative follows a quartet of characters — young hockey player Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama), proficient skater Sakura (Kiara Nakanishi), figure-skating tutor Arakawa (Sōsuke Ikematsu) and his boyfriend (Ryûya Wakaba) — as they navigate subtly shifting interpersonal dynamics while a cold but beautiful winter waxes and wanes around them.
Every scene is set up with a very deliberate aesthetic sense. A snowy icing-sugar landscape, a baseball field tinged with pale turquoise light, an indoor ice-rink shimmering in a golden haze: Nothing feels haphazard or anything less than picture-perfect. This is the result of a fruitful collaboration between director and Dp,...
Every scene is set up with a very deliberate aesthetic sense. A snowy icing-sugar landscape, a baseball field tinged with pale turquoise light, an indoor ice-rink shimmering in a golden haze: Nothing feels haphazard or anything less than picture-perfect. This is the result of a fruitful collaboration between director and Dp,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
In Japan the very first few snowflakes begin to fall signaling the change of seasons. Another clue is we see young Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama) and his baseball-playing buddies taking those final swings at bat and moving on to ice hockey. That is basically how this quiet and lilting charmer of a coming-of-age story is introduced, and it sets the table perfectly for what is to follow.
Only the second narrative feature film for promising 28-year-old filmmaker Hiroshi Okuyama, whose first film 2018’s Jesus like this one also dealt with children, My Sunshine does not come from his own childhood experiences but is a story about figure skating, or in this case ice dancing, with which he has always been fascinated but never had a way in. Finally listening over and over to Humbert Humbert’s song “My Sunshine,” he not only got the English-language title for the film, but also...
Only the second narrative feature film for promising 28-year-old filmmaker Hiroshi Okuyama, whose first film 2018’s Jesus like this one also dealt with children, My Sunshine does not come from his own childhood experiences but is a story about figure skating, or in this case ice dancing, with which he has always been fascinated but never had a way in. Finally listening over and over to Humbert Humbert’s song “My Sunshine,” he not only got the English-language title for the film, but also...
- 5/19/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
In Hiroshi Okuyama’s My Sunshine, three souls find solace and poignant moments of self-discovery in figure skating. The film chronicles a season of the sport in a small town on a Japanese island, the kind of place whose melting snow and changing leaves inspire poetic musings. Guided by the beauty of the landscape and the nostalgia of childhood, Okuyama constructs a quiet narrative buoyed by an understated charm.
The film opens with signs of a new season. During a baseball game, Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama), a sheepish boy with minor speech troubles, becomes mesmerized by snowflakes fluttering to the ground. While his teammates steal bases, he cranes his neck, angling for a better view of the crystals. Scenes of snow blanketing the town in Hokkaido, the Japanese island where Okuyama (Jesus) filmed My Sunshine, follow. These images — of powdery mountain peaks and quiet streets flanked by snow — possess the haunting...
The film opens with signs of a new season. During a baseball game, Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama), a sheepish boy with minor speech troubles, becomes mesmerized by snowflakes fluttering to the ground. While his teammates steal bases, he cranes his neck, angling for a better view of the crystals. Scenes of snow blanketing the town in Hokkaido, the Japanese island where Okuyama (Jesus) filmed My Sunshine, follow. These images — of powdery mountain peaks and quiet streets flanked by snow — possess the haunting...
- 5/19/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A Cannes 2024 acquisitions title already picking up buzz out of the Un Certain Regard lineup is Hiroshi Okuyama’s “My Sunshine,” which IndieWire shares an exclusive clip of below. Writer/director Okuyama won the top prize in the New Directors competition at the 2018 San Sebastian Film Festival for his debut feature, “Jesus,” at just 22 years old and now makes his Cannes debut. The moving coming-of-age drama set in rural Japan premieres later this week, centering on the bond between an ice figure-skating coach and his young pupils who take a particular interest in him — and with life-defining consequences.
Here’s the official synopsis: “On a Japanese island, life revolves around the changing seasons. Winter is time for ice hockey at school, but Takuya isn’t too thrilled about it. His real interest lies in Sakura, a figure skating rising star from Tokyo, for whom he starts to develop a genuine fascination.
Here’s the official synopsis: “On a Japanese island, life revolves around the changing seasons. Winter is time for ice hockey at school, but Takuya isn’t too thrilled about it. His real interest lies in Sakura, a figure skating rising star from Tokyo, for whom he starts to develop a genuine fascination.
- 5/13/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Cannes Competition titles Bird by Andrea Arnold and Emila Perez by Jacques Audiard are among the films eligible for the Queer Palm at this year’s festival.
Any title playing in Cannes which deals in anyway with Lgbtqiaa+ themes is eligible for the Queer Palm, whose jury this year will be presided over by Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont. Competing films are drawn from all Cannes selections: Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight and Acid.
Bird centres on a 12-year-old who lives with her single father and brother in a squat and seeks attention and adventure elsewhere; among...
Any title playing in Cannes which deals in anyway with Lgbtqiaa+ themes is eligible for the Queer Palm, whose jury this year will be presided over by Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont. Competing films are drawn from all Cannes selections: Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight and Acid.
Bird centres on a 12-year-old who lives with her single father and brother in a squat and seeks attention and adventure elsewhere; among...
- 5/9/2024
- ScreenDaily
Among the high-profile filmmakers selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is a wave of upcoming talent from Asia and the Middle East, including the first Indian feature chosen for Competition in 30 years and the first film from Saudi Arabia to ever make the Official Selection.
While Cannes has a reputation for bringing back familiar names year after year, the line-up for the 77th edition does feature several rising filmmakers and not just in the “discovery” strands of the selection.
Making her first appearance in Competition is Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with All We Imagine As Light. It marks...
While Cannes has a reputation for bringing back familiar names year after year, the line-up for the 77th edition does feature several rising filmmakers and not just in the “discovery” strands of the selection.
Making her first appearance in Competition is Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with All We Imagine As Light. It marks...
- 4/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Paramount Pictures has announced a three-year extension its first-look deal with producer Neal H. Moritz and his Original Film.
The news came out of Paramount’s CinemaCon presentation at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, where the studio and Miramax announced they are moving forward with Moritz on a new instalment in the Scary Movie franchise.
Moritz serves as an executive producer on Knuckles, a six-episode series that takes place after the events of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and will debut on April 26 exclusively on Paramount+ in the US.
The producer is also working on Sonic The Hedgehog 3,...
The news came out of Paramount’s CinemaCon presentation at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, where the studio and Miramax announced they are moving forward with Moritz on a new instalment in the Scary Movie franchise.
Moritz serves as an executive producer on Knuckles, a six-episode series that takes place after the events of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and will debut on April 26 exclusively on Paramount+ in the US.
The producer is also working on Sonic The Hedgehog 3,...
- 4/11/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cannes announced the official selection for this year, and the Asian representation is quite strong. India finds its way back to the main competition after 30 years, with “All We Imagine as Light” while Jia Zhangke returns with “Caught By The Tides” . Also of note is the presence of the first Saudi Arabian film in the official selection with “Norah”, which premiered last year in Red Sea. Here are all the entries we know of so far. More info will be added as we get closer to the festival.
All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia (India) Caught by the Tides by Jia Zhang-Ke (China) Norah by Tawfik Alzaidi (Saudi Arabia) Black Dog by Guan Hu (China) My Sunshine by Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan) Santosh by Sandhya Suri (India) Viet and Nam by Truong Minh Quý (Vietnam) She's Got No Name by Peter Chan Ho-Sun Twilight of the Warrior Walled In...
All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia (India) Caught by the Tides by Jia Zhang-Ke (China) Norah by Tawfik Alzaidi (Saudi Arabia) Black Dog by Guan Hu (China) My Sunshine by Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan) Santosh by Sandhya Suri (India) Viet and Nam by Truong Minh Quý (Vietnam) She's Got No Name by Peter Chan Ho-Sun Twilight of the Warrior Walled In...
- 4/11/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
As expected, the Cannes Film Festival line-up is pretty spectacular with new films from Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold and David Cronenberg heading to the fest.
As the days are getting longer and there’s a tiny bit more sunshine in between the showers of rain, that can only mean one thing. The Cannes Film Festival is almost upon us.
Of course, us peasants rarely get to go, but it is fun to read the reactions from the glitzy world premieres as the stars gather in the picturesque town of Cannes.
And this year’s festival line-up is a doozy. We already knew George Miller was heading to the Croisette with Furiosa, Francis Ford Coppola is bringing Megalopolis and Kevin Costner will be premiering his new film, too, but there’s a whole heap of great filmmakers heading out to the beach with their films.
The highlights include Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness,...
As the days are getting longer and there’s a tiny bit more sunshine in between the showers of rain, that can only mean one thing. The Cannes Film Festival is almost upon us.
Of course, us peasants rarely get to go, but it is fun to read the reactions from the glitzy world premieres as the stars gather in the picturesque town of Cannes.
And this year’s festival line-up is a doozy. We already knew George Miller was heading to the Croisette with Furiosa, Francis Ford Coppola is bringing Megalopolis and Kevin Costner will be premiering his new film, too, but there’s a whole heap of great filmmakers heading out to the beach with their films.
The highlights include Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness,...
- 4/11/2024
- by Maria Lattila
- Film Stories
Charades has taken international sales rights to Hiroshi Okuyama’s feature My Sunshine and will kick off sales for the Un Certain Regard 2024-selected feature in Cannes.
Set on a small Japanese island centred on the changing seasons, My Sunshine follows two children who are complete opposites who decide to train together to form a figure-skating duo as their feelings for each other grow throughout the winter.
The film is the director’s follow-up to his debut feature Jesus about a young boy who leaves Tokyo to attend a Christian school in the countryside, which earned Okuyama the new directors...
Set on a small Japanese island centred on the changing seasons, My Sunshine follows two children who are complete opposites who decide to train together to form a figure-skating duo as their feelings for each other grow throughout the winter.
The film is the director’s follow-up to his debut feature Jesus about a young boy who leaves Tokyo to attend a Christian school in the countryside, which earned Okuyama the new directors...
- 4/11/2024
- ScreenDaily
Descubre las películas que estarán en Cannes 2024: una lista completa de todas las secciones.
Esta mañana, Thierry Frémaux ha anunciado la programación oficial de la 77ª edición del Festival de Cannes. La pasada edición del festival fue testigo de los estrenos mundiales de las aclamadas películas “Anatomía de una Caída”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” y “The Zone of Interest”. Unas películas que posteriormente fueron nominadas al Oscar a la mejor película, de modo que este año el listón está muy alto.
Desde su primera edición en 1946, el Festival de Cannes se ha consolidado como uno de los acontecimientos cinematográficos más importantes de la industria del cine y la edición de este año ofrece una gran variedad de películas de todo el mundo; desde directores consagrados hasta nuevas voces de la industria. Aunque, por desgracia, España no tendrá representación en el festival este año.
La presidenta del jurado de...
Esta mañana, Thierry Frémaux ha anunciado la programación oficial de la 77ª edición del Festival de Cannes. La pasada edición del festival fue testigo de los estrenos mundiales de las aclamadas películas “Anatomía de una Caída”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” y “The Zone of Interest”. Unas películas que posteriormente fueron nominadas al Oscar a la mejor película, de modo que este año el listón está muy alto.
Desde su primera edición en 1946, el Festival de Cannes se ha consolidado como uno de los acontecimientos cinematográficos más importantes de la industria del cine y la edición de este año ofrece una gran variedad de películas de todo el mundo; desde directores consagrados hasta nuevas voces de la industria. Aunque, por desgracia, España no tendrá representación en el festival este año.
La presidenta del jurado de...
- 4/11/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
The Official Selection for the 77th Cannes Film Festival was revealed Thursday, with 19 movies in Competition (see full lists below).
Familiar names who will launch new works in the Competition include Ali Abbasi, who brings The Apprentice, a feature pic about the early life of Donald Trump. Andrea Arnold returns with Bird, starring Barry Keoghan, and Jacques Audiard’s latest, Emilia Perez, a musical with Selena Gomez will also debut in competition.
Elsewhere, American filmmaker Sean Baker brings Anora to the Croisette. Poor Things filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos will launch Kinds of Kindness, his latest collab with Emma Stone. David Cronenberg returns with The Shrouds, and Paul Schrader will debut Oh Canada starring Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman and Richard Gere.
Related: ‘The Apprentice’: First Look At Sebastian Stan As Donald Trump & Jeremy Strong As Roy Cohn In Cannes Competition Film
There’s a strong English-language and American presence in the...
Familiar names who will launch new works in the Competition include Ali Abbasi, who brings The Apprentice, a feature pic about the early life of Donald Trump. Andrea Arnold returns with Bird, starring Barry Keoghan, and Jacques Audiard’s latest, Emilia Perez, a musical with Selena Gomez will also debut in competition.
Elsewhere, American filmmaker Sean Baker brings Anora to the Croisette. Poor Things filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos will launch Kinds of Kindness, his latest collab with Emma Stone. David Cronenberg returns with The Shrouds, and Paul Schrader will debut Oh Canada starring Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman and Richard Gere.
Related: ‘The Apprentice’: First Look At Sebastian Stan As Donald Trump & Jeremy Strong As Roy Cohn In Cannes Competition Film
There’s a strong English-language and American presence in the...
- 4/11/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Ahead of a festival kicking off in just about a month, Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, have unveiled the selection of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Led by the previously announced major highlight, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, the competition lineup features the latest films from Jia Zhangke, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Andrea Arnold, Sean Baker, Miguel Gomes, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jacques Audiard, Ali Abbasi, Payal Kapadia, and more.
Other sections include the previously new films from George Miller and Kevin Costner, alongside Leos Carax’s personal short C’est Pas Moi, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumors, Alain Guiraudie’s Miséricorde, and more.
Check out the lineup below.
Competition
All We Imagine As Light – Payal Kapadia
L’amour Ouf – Gilles Lellouche
Anora – Sean Baker
The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi
Bird – Andrea Arnold
Caught by the Tides – Jia Zhang-ke...
Led by the previously announced major highlight, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, the competition lineup features the latest films from Jia Zhangke, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Andrea Arnold, Sean Baker, Miguel Gomes, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jacques Audiard, Ali Abbasi, Payal Kapadia, and more.
Other sections include the previously new films from George Miller and Kevin Costner, alongside Leos Carax’s personal short C’est Pas Moi, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumors, Alain Guiraudie’s Miséricorde, and more.
Check out the lineup below.
Competition
All We Imagine As Light – Payal Kapadia
L’amour Ouf – Gilles Lellouche
Anora – Sean Baker
The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi
Bird – Andrea Arnold
Caught by the Tides – Jia Zhang-ke...
- 4/11/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Hirokazu Kore-eda infuses the world of the Japanese geisha with his signature gentle humanism in The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, his first drama series for Netflix, launching worldwide this week.
Based on a best-selling manga by Aiko Koyama, the nine-episode series is set in the traditional Geiko district of Kyoto, depicting the inner sanctum of aspiring maiko courtesans. The story follows two 16-year-old girls, Kiyo (Mori Nana) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi), who move from rural Aomori with dreams of becoming geisha. But while Sumire is instantly identified as a natural talent in the traditional arts — dance, elaborate costume and delicate music-making — Kiyo proves an awkward fit. Instead, she finds her place as a makanai, the traditional cook who prepares the meals within the yakata house where all of the geiko live together.
Kore-eda, who won Cannes’ Palme d’Or in 2018 with his family drama Shoplifters, acts as the show’s producer,...
Based on a best-selling manga by Aiko Koyama, the nine-episode series is set in the traditional Geiko district of Kyoto, depicting the inner sanctum of aspiring maiko courtesans. The story follows two 16-year-old girls, Kiyo (Mori Nana) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi), who move from rural Aomori with dreams of becoming geisha. But while Sumire is instantly identified as a natural talent in the traditional arts — dance, elaborate costume and delicate music-making — Kiyo proves an awkward fit. Instead, she finds her place as a makanai, the traditional cook who prepares the meals within the yakata house where all of the geiko live together.
Kore-eda, who won Cannes’ Palme d’Or in 2018 with his family drama Shoplifters, acts as the show’s producer,...
- 1/13/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
At the close of its opening credits sequence, Netflix’s The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House splashes its title over a close-up shot of a meal. What meal specifically varies from episode to episode, depending on what the characters eat in any given one. Invariably, however, it’s some form of home-cooked comfort food: oyakodon or tomato curry or stewed eggplant, often still bubbling in the pot.
The dishes aren’t necessarily pretty, by the standards of your typical foodie show, nor do they look particularly fancy or original. But that’s precisely their appeal. They’re simple, straightforward, deceptively humble and irresistibly cozy — much like the series itself.
Adapted from the manga by Aiko Koyama, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House centers on a rare adventure. At the start of the series, 16-year-old best friends Kiyo (an irrepressibly sunny Nana Mori) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi) strike out...
The dishes aren’t necessarily pretty, by the standards of your typical foodie show, nor do they look particularly fancy or original. But that’s precisely their appeal. They’re simple, straightforward, deceptively humble and irresistibly cozy — much like the series itself.
Adapted from the manga by Aiko Koyama, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House centers on a rare adventure. At the start of the series, 16-year-old best friends Kiyo (an irrepressibly sunny Nana Mori) and Sumire (Natsuki Deguchi) strike out...
- 1/11/2023
- by Angie Han
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes Palme d’Or-winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s first series for Netflix, The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House, is based on a best-selling manga about two young girls who move to Kyoto to start their training as ‘maiko’ or apprentice geisha.
One of them turns out to be a star maiko, but the other is not so talented in the geisha arts, which mostly comprise traditional song and dance, and ends up cooking for the household where the girls are being trained, an activity in which she excels. Neither the manga, created by Aiko Koyama, or the series are set in the Edo period, the golden era of geisha culture, but in contemporary Japan, where the profession still exists and is respected, but is also regarded as a dying art.
Scheduled to start streaming tomorrow (January 12), the series is produced by Kore-eda and Genki Kawamura, a leading producer behind hits such as Confessions,...
One of them turns out to be a star maiko, but the other is not so talented in the geisha arts, which mostly comprise traditional song and dance, and ends up cooking for the household where the girls are being trained, an activity in which she excels. Neither the manga, created by Aiko Koyama, or the series are set in the Edo period, the golden era of geisha culture, but in contemporary Japan, where the profession still exists and is respected, but is also regarded as a dying art.
Scheduled to start streaming tomorrow (January 12), the series is produced by Kore-eda and Genki Kawamura, a leading producer behind hits such as Confessions,...
- 1/11/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Projects selected from 15 countries.
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has unveiled the 29 titles selected for the 2022 Asian Project Market (Apm).
The film financing event that runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market will return in-person from October 9-11, after taking place as a hybrid event last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
From this year, Apm has excluded non-Asian projects to provide more focused support for Asian projects, which must be submitted by directors who have made at least one short or full-length feature as well as producers who have been involved with at least one feature.
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has unveiled the 29 titles selected for the 2022 Asian Project Market (Apm).
The film financing event that runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market will return in-person from October 9-11, after taking place as a hybrid event last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
From this year, Apm has excluded non-Asian projects to provide more focused support for Asian projects, which must be submitted by directors who have made at least one short or full-length feature as well as producers who have been involved with at least one feature.
- 8/12/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has announced the 29 projects selected for this year’s Asian Project Market (Apm), a core strand of the festival’s industry activities, including new works from Thailand’s Aditya Assarat, China’s Wang Qi, Vietnam’s Le Bao and Myanmar’s Maung Sun, whose producer Ma Aeint is currently in prison in Yangon.
Ma Aeint, who previously produced Maung Sun’s award-winning Money Has Four Legs, was recently sentenced to three years in jail with hard labor by Myanmar’s military junta, which took over the country in a brutal coup in early 2021. She was accused of “causing fear, spreading fake news or agitating against government employees”. She is attached as a producer to Maung Sun’s new project, Future Laobans, described as a drama about the “international dimension of organized crime.”
Assarat, an award-winning Thai director, is returning to feature-length directing after focusing on producing,...
Ma Aeint, who previously produced Maung Sun’s award-winning Money Has Four Legs, was recently sentenced to three years in jail with hard labor by Myanmar’s military junta, which took over the country in a brutal coup in early 2021. She was accused of “causing fear, spreading fake news or agitating against government employees”. She is attached as a producer to Maung Sun’s new project, Future Laobans, described as a drama about the “international dimension of organized crime.”
Assarat, an award-winning Thai director, is returning to feature-length directing after focusing on producing,...
- 8/11/2022
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Shoplifters director Hirokazu Kore-eda is to adapt popular comic Maiko in Kyoto: From the Maiko House into an eight-part Netflix TV series, his first for the streamer. The prolific Kore-eda teased a TV and film project for Netflix late last year and these are the first details to emerge.
Airing later this year, The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House from Story Inc and Bun-Buku Inc is set in the geisha district of Kyoto, as protagonist Kiyo becomes a Makanai (person who cooks meals) at a house where Maiko (apprentice geishas) live together. The story depicts the everyday life of Kiyo maiko Sumire, her childhood friend who came with her from Aomori to Kyoto, amid a vibrant world of geisha and maiko courtesans.
Kore-eda, who won the Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters, his story about a family that relies on shoplifting to cope with poverty, is also in the...
Airing later this year, The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House from Story Inc and Bun-Buku Inc is set in the geisha district of Kyoto, as protagonist Kiyo becomes a Makanai (person who cooks meals) at a house where Maiko (apprentice geishas) live together. The story depicts the everyday life of Kiyo maiko Sumire, her childhood friend who came with her from Aomori to Kyoto, amid a vibrant world of geisha and maiko courtesans.
Kore-eda, who won the Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters, his story about a family that relies on shoplifting to cope with poverty, is also in the...
- 1/7/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
It is one of the greatest tragedies in life when you realize the true uniqueness of a person only when he or she is gone or has been missing for quite some time. Considering only a few encounters of the thousands we make in our lives truly linger on, understanding what has made a person special and why one has felt attached to him or her, can be truly painful, but also says a lot about ourselves. To pinpoint this moment of clarity has been the subject of many stories, in literature, music and in film, which makes the task of standing out with your own addition quite difficult. In her short feature “She’s Gone” young filmmaker Sara Ogawa tells the story about one of those special encounters in the life of a high-school student, which changes her life forever and also the way she perceives the world around herself.
- 9/26/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Strand includes Fyzal Boulifa’s Lynn + Lucy and Beyond The Horizon starring Laetitia Casta and Clémence Poésy.
The 2019 San Sebastian Film Festival (September 20-28) has revealed the 14 first and second films set to compete for its New Directors award.
Among the titles are UK director Fyzal Boulifa’s feature debut Lynn + Lucy about two best friends whose relationship is tested after a tragedy. The project, backed by BBC Films, was part of the Great 8 showcase at Cannes this year.
Titles from second- time directors include Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s Disco, with Skam star Josefine Frida Pettersen, and Delphine Lehericey’s...
The 2019 San Sebastian Film Festival (September 20-28) has revealed the 14 first and second films set to compete for its New Directors award.
Among the titles are UK director Fyzal Boulifa’s feature debut Lynn + Lucy about two best friends whose relationship is tested after a tragedy. The project, backed by BBC Films, was part of the Great 8 showcase at Cannes this year.
Titles from second- time directors include Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s Disco, with Skam star Josefine Frida Pettersen, and Delphine Lehericey’s...
- 7/30/2019
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The San Sebastian International Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled the lineup for its New Directors competition, which comes with a hefty $55,718 (50,000 euros) purse for the director and Spain distributor of the winning film.
Eight of this year's 14 selected films are debut efforts, while the remaining ones are second features, several of whose directors have previously participated in San Sebastian. And eight of the films come from a total of nine female directors.
Last year's winner of the New Directors section was its youngest ever, 22-year-old Hiroshi Okuyama, for his coming-of-age tale Jesus. The first ...
Eight of this year's 14 selected films are debut efforts, while the remaining ones are second features, several of whose directors have previously participated in San Sebastian. And eight of the films come from a total of nine female directors.
Last year's winner of the New Directors section was its youngest ever, 22-year-old Hiroshi Okuyama, for his coming-of-age tale Jesus. The first ...
- 7/30/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The San Sebastian International Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled the lineup for its New Directors competition, which comes with a hefty $55,718 (50,000 euros) purse for the director and Spain distributor of the winning film.
Eight of this year's 14 selected films are debut efforts, while the remaining ones are second features, several of whose directors have previously participated in San Sebastian. And eight of the films come from a total of nine female directors.
Last year's winner of the New Directors section was its youngest ever, 22-year-old Hiroshi Okuyama, for his coming-of-age tale Jesus. The first ...
Eight of this year's 14 selected films are debut efforts, while the remaining ones are second features, several of whose directors have previously participated in San Sebastian. And eight of the films come from a total of nine female directors.
Last year's winner of the New Directors section was its youngest ever, 22-year-old Hiroshi Okuyama, for his coming-of-age tale Jesus. The first ...
- 7/30/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Hiroshi Okuyama’ short film “Tokyo 21st October” usually screens as a companion piece to his feature film “Jesus”. Even though both deal with the topic of family, the whole idea of the dichotomy of rural and urban Japan, as well as the theme of faith is absent from the short film. However, Okuyama also focuses on the troubled relationship between two people, in this case a mother (Shinobu Otake) and her son (Ryo Shinoda), their struggles to communicate and their feelings about being (emotionally) apart from each other.
Another notable difference is the visual approach of Okuyama in his short. Using cutout animation, the rather static situation of two people sitting at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant becomes unique in many ways. Additionally, Okuyama blends this situation with fantastic, and rather ironic elements such as the figure of the waiter being a man-sized sardine.
“Tokyo 21st October” is screening at Japan Cuts
In general,...
Another notable difference is the visual approach of Okuyama in his short. Using cutout animation, the rather static situation of two people sitting at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant becomes unique in many ways. Additionally, Okuyama blends this situation with fantastic, and rather ironic elements such as the figure of the waiter being a man-sized sardine.
“Tokyo 21st October” is screening at Japan Cuts
In general,...
- 7/29/2019
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Japan Cuts festival, which takes place at the Japan Society in New York City, has become a staple in the sea of summer cinematic offerings in terms of counter-programming to the onslaught of weekly blockbusters and tentpoles. In such a rich program, it’s always a bit dizzying to choose one film over another, and while if you choose any options now playing until July 28 you are likely to have a good time, these are my personal picks for the five unmissable events.
5. Jesus – Boku wa Iesu-sama ga kirai (Hiroshi Okuyama)
Japanese cinema has always had a strange visual relation with Christianity and its symbols, exoticizing and equating it to something more like mythology than a faith. Although with a more interiorized approach, Hiroshi Okuyama’s debut doesn’t stray too far away from that tradition as it tells the story of 10-year old Yura, who recently moved to a...
5. Jesus – Boku wa Iesu-sama ga kirai (Hiroshi Okuyama)
Japanese cinema has always had a strange visual relation with Christianity and its symbols, exoticizing and equating it to something more like mythology than a faith. Although with a more interiorized approach, Hiroshi Okuyama’s debut doesn’t stray too far away from that tradition as it tells the story of 10-year old Yura, who recently moved to a...
- 7/23/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema presents a diverse slate of 42 films, with over 20 guest filmmakers and talent in person for daily post-screening Q&As, including Cut Above awardee Shinya Tsukamoto.
Premiering 26 features and 16 short films, the summer festival offers a deep dive into one of the world’s most vital film cultures with a diverse selection across its Feature Slate, Classics: Rediscoveries and Restorations, Documentary Focus, Experimental Spotlight and Shorts Showcase sections. This year’s lineup features 19 first-time filmmakers and 14 female directors (the most in the festival’s history), including 10 International Premieres, 16 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, 4 East Coast Premieres and 6 New York Premieres. In addition, over 20 guest filmmakers and talent from Japan will join the festival to participate in post-screening Q&As and parties.
“This 13th edition of Japan Cuts provides testament to the continued vitality of contemporary Japanese cinema with a wide array...
Premiering 26 features and 16 short films, the summer festival offers a deep dive into one of the world’s most vital film cultures with a diverse selection across its Feature Slate, Classics: Rediscoveries and Restorations, Documentary Focus, Experimental Spotlight and Shorts Showcase sections. This year’s lineup features 19 first-time filmmakers and 14 female directors (the most in the festival’s history), including 10 International Premieres, 16 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, 4 East Coast Premieres and 6 New York Premieres. In addition, over 20 guest filmmakers and talent from Japan will join the festival to participate in post-screening Q&As and parties.
“This 13th edition of Japan Cuts provides testament to the continued vitality of contemporary Japanese cinema with a wide array...
- 6/14/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
‘The Final Quarter’. (Photo: Wayne Taylor/Fairfax)
Ian Darling documentary The Final Quarter, which looks at Afl footballer and Indigenous leader Adam Goodes’ public call out of racism and Australia’s heated response, will premiere at the Sydney Film Festival in June.
The festival today unveiled the first 25 films on this year’s line-up, with the full program to launch on May 8.
Made using only archival footage aired at the time, Darling’s doco chronicles the final years of the Sydney Swans player’s career. Other Aussie films announced today include Sophie Hyde’s Animals, which made its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year, and Erica Glynn’s portrait of her mother and Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (Caama) co-founder Freda Glynn, She Who Must Be Loved, which also screened at the Adelaide Film Festival and Berlinale.
Leading the preview announcement is Amazing Grace, which captures never-before-seen footage, shot by Sydney Pollack,...
Ian Darling documentary The Final Quarter, which looks at Afl footballer and Indigenous leader Adam Goodes’ public call out of racism and Australia’s heated response, will premiere at the Sydney Film Festival in June.
The festival today unveiled the first 25 films on this year’s line-up, with the full program to launch on May 8.
Made using only archival footage aired at the time, Darling’s doco chronicles the final years of the Sydney Swans player’s career. Other Aussie films announced today include Sophie Hyde’s Animals, which made its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year, and Erica Glynn’s portrait of her mother and Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (Caama) co-founder Freda Glynn, She Who Must Be Loved, which also screened at the Adelaide Film Festival and Berlinale.
Leading the preview announcement is Amazing Grace, which captures never-before-seen footage, shot by Sydney Pollack,...
- 4/2/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Adam Torel’s top ten of Japanese movies has always been one of the treats of the year, for all fans of the country’s cinema, since most of his choices are relatively unknown at the time of its publishing. 22 year old Hiroshi Okuyama graduation effort “Jesus” (actual Japanese title is “I Hate Mr. Jesus”) is one of those films. The aforementioned “relatively” part comes into play here, since the film netted Okuyama the New Director award at San Sebastian Film Festival, and has already been bought by Nikkatsu. Let us take things from the beginning though.
The film revolves around Yura, an elementary school student, who finds himself moving with his parents to Nakanojo, a small, snowy village, from Tokyo. Initially, the change has Yura struggling, both at home, where he has to share a room with his grandmother, and in school, where he does not share or even...
The film revolves around Yura, an elementary school student, who finds himself moving with his parents to Nakanojo, a small, snowy village, from Tokyo. Initially, the change has Yura struggling, both at home, where he has to share a room with his grandmother, and in school, where he does not share or even...
- 1/6/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Korean drama movie, “Clean Up” took the best film prize on Friday night at the closing ceremony of the International Film Festival and Awards Macao.
The jury, which comprised Chen Kaige, Danis Tanovic, Mabel Cheung, Paul Currie, and Tillotama Shome, said: “’Clean Up’ is a powerful, visceral film which is symbolic and naturalistic at the same time… The director unfolds a psychological drama with simmering intensity, and humanists the criminal without condoning the heinous crime in any way.”
The festival, completing its third edition, wrapped up with another breezy and efficient closing ceremony, kept largely on schedule thanks to its local live broadcast.
Celebrities on the red carpet included Phillip Noyce, Aaron Kwok and Ben Wheatley. Industry executives in attendance included Ellen Eliasoph, Michael J. Werner and Shekhar Kapur.
The closing ceremony was also the occasion for Variety and the festival to present awards to Asia’s next wave of talent.
The jury, which comprised Chen Kaige, Danis Tanovic, Mabel Cheung, Paul Currie, and Tillotama Shome, said: “’Clean Up’ is a powerful, visceral film which is symbolic and naturalistic at the same time… The director unfolds a psychological drama with simmering intensity, and humanists the criminal without condoning the heinous crime in any way.”
The festival, completing its third edition, wrapped up with another breezy and efficient closing ceremony, kept largely on schedule thanks to its local live broadcast.
Celebrities on the red carpet included Phillip Noyce, Aaron Kwok and Ben Wheatley. Industry executives in attendance included Ellen Eliasoph, Michael J. Werner and Shekhar Kapur.
The closing ceremony was also the occasion for Variety and the festival to present awards to Asia’s next wave of talent.
- 12/14/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
“Across Asia Film Festival 2018. Ghosts of Asia”
Cagliari, Italy – from 2 to 10 December 2018
Across Asia, the International Festival dedicated to explore the cinematography of South East Asia – and this year focusing on Thailand e Philippine – is back on the beautiful island of Sardinia and is promising International and Italian Premieres, screenings, masterclasses, workshops and parties all over the city of Cagliari.
Stefano Galanti and Maria Paola Zedda are the creators and the artistic directors of Across Asia Film Festival that is a young festival, focused on most interesting languages of recent cinematographic production from Asia, with the goal of promoting the encounter between Italian and foreign communities and developing cultural exchanges.
Across Asia’s mission is to become a window on the world, a different and unconventional way to look at the Asiatic continent and its representations, away from the standard and usual mainstream view.
The programme includes many Italian premieres...
Cagliari, Italy – from 2 to 10 December 2018
Across Asia, the International Festival dedicated to explore the cinematography of South East Asia – and this year focusing on Thailand e Philippine – is back on the beautiful island of Sardinia and is promising International and Italian Premieres, screenings, masterclasses, workshops and parties all over the city of Cagliari.
Stefano Galanti and Maria Paola Zedda are the creators and the artistic directors of Across Asia Film Festival that is a young festival, focused on most interesting languages of recent cinematographic production from Asia, with the goal of promoting the encounter between Italian and foreign communities and developing cultural exchanges.
Across Asia’s mission is to become a window on the world, a different and unconventional way to look at the Asiatic continent and its representations, away from the standard and usual mainstream view.
The programme includes many Italian premieres...
- 11/30/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Vasan Bala’s “The Man Who Feels No Pain,” and Qiu Sheng’s “Suburban Birds” are among 11 films set for competition at the third edition of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao. Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” will open the festival in an out of competition slot.
Other films in competition include: “Aga” by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria); “All Good,” by Eva Trobisch (Germany); “Clean Up,” by Kwon Man-ki (South Korea); “Jesus,” by Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan); “Scarborough,” by Barnaby Southcombe (U.K.) “School’s Out” by Sebastien Marnier (France); “The Good Girls,” by Alejandra Marquez (Mexico); “The Guilty,” by Gustav Moller (Denmark); and “White Blood” by Barbara Sarasola – Day (Argentina). The competition is only open to first or second time feature directors.
The lineup was announced Thursday in Macau by artistic director Mike Goodridge. The jury which will select the prize-winners includes Chen Kaige as president, alongside Mabel Cheung (Hong Kong...
Other films in competition include: “Aga” by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria); “All Good,” by Eva Trobisch (Germany); “Clean Up,” by Kwon Man-ki (South Korea); “Jesus,” by Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan); “Scarborough,” by Barnaby Southcombe (U.K.) “School’s Out” by Sebastien Marnier (France); “The Good Girls,” by Alejandra Marquez (Mexico); “The Guilty,” by Gustav Moller (Denmark); and “White Blood” by Barbara Sarasola – Day (Argentina). The competition is only open to first or second time feature directors.
The lineup was announced Thursday in Macau by artistic director Mike Goodridge. The jury which will select the prize-winners includes Chen Kaige as president, alongside Mabel Cheung (Hong Kong...
- 11/8/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Before Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” – the acclaimed period-piece centering on the rivalry of two female courtiers, vying for the attention of England’s queen – closes the Stockholm Intl. Film Festival on Nov. 18, the event will have offered its audience 150 films, 39% of which are directed by women, a higher percentage than most international festivals.
The festival opens on Nov. 7 with the world premiere of Anna Odell’s “X&Y,” a film that playfully explores notions of gender identity. It is highly anticipated after the success of the director’s debut, “The Reunion,” which won the Fipresci Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and the best film and script awards at the Guldbagges, Sweden’s top movie contest.
“X&Y” is one of 22 titles competing for the Bronze Horse, the fest’s top prize, restricted to directors with no more than three films. Ten of these are helmed by women, among which are Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum,...
The festival opens on Nov. 7 with the world premiere of Anna Odell’s “X&Y,” a film that playfully explores notions of gender identity. It is highly anticipated after the success of the director’s debut, “The Reunion,” which won the Fipresci Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and the best film and script awards at the Guldbagges, Sweden’s top movie contest.
“X&Y” is one of 22 titles competing for the Bronze Horse, the fest’s top prize, restricted to directors with no more than three films. Ten of these are helmed by women, among which are Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum,...
- 10/29/2018
- by Jon Asp
- Variety Film + TV
Honorees to include Asghar Farhadi, Mary Harron and Gunnell Lindblom.
The Stockholm International Film Festival has revealed its 2018 programme, with the festival kicking off Nov 7 with the anticipated world premiere of Anna Odell’s X&Y, in competition.
Odell, the Swedish artist and filmmaker who last directed 2013’s award-winning The Reunion, returns starring as a fictionalized version of herself, collaborating with the celebrated actor Mikael Persbrandt to deconstruct themselves. The cast also features Trine Dyrholm, Sofie Gråbøl, Vera Vitali, Shanti Roney, Jens Albinus and Thure Lindhardt. New Europe handles sales.
Stockholm will close Nov 18 with The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos, from the Open Zone section.
The Stockholm International Film Festival has revealed its 2018 programme, with the festival kicking off Nov 7 with the anticipated world premiere of Anna Odell’s X&Y, in competition.
Odell, the Swedish artist and filmmaker who last directed 2013’s award-winning The Reunion, returns starring as a fictionalized version of herself, collaborating with the celebrated actor Mikael Persbrandt to deconstruct themselves. The cast also features Trine Dyrholm, Sofie Gråbøl, Vera Vitali, Shanti Roney, Jens Albinus and Thure Lindhardt. New Europe handles sales.
Stockholm will close Nov 18 with The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos, from the Open Zone section.
- 10/16/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Benjamín Naishtat wins best director Silver Shell for Rojo.
Spanish production Between Two Waters (Entre Dos Aguas) by Isaki Lacuesta has won the top award at the San Sebastián Film Festival, marking a second Golden Shell for the Spanish director who after claiming the top prize in 2011 for The Double Steps.
Between Two Waters tells the story of two Roman brothers who meet again after years apart, one having spent some time in prison, the other in the army.
The title is a Spanish expression that translates to “neither here nor there”, and is also the title of a classic...
Spanish production Between Two Waters (Entre Dos Aguas) by Isaki Lacuesta has won the top award at the San Sebastián Film Festival, marking a second Golden Shell for the Spanish director who after claiming the top prize in 2011 for The Double Steps.
Between Two Waters tells the story of two Roman brothers who meet again after years apart, one having spent some time in prison, the other in the army.
The title is a Spanish expression that translates to “neither here nor there”, and is also the title of a classic...
- 9/29/2018
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
San Sebastian — Isaki Lacuesta’s “Between Two Waters” won big at San Sebastian Saturday night, taking its top Golden Shell, the second time the Catalan director has won the award, after 2011’s “The Double Steps.”
Otherwise, the big winner of the night was Benjamin Naishtat’s covert violence thriller “Rojo,” which took director, actor (Dario Grandinetti) and cinematography (Pedro Sotero).
This year’s edition saw a a hugely-raised Hollywood star quotient, a half score or more of A-list talent hailing into town to tub-thump titles: Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”), Ryan Gosling (“First Man”), Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma”), Robert Pattinson (“High Life”), Chris Hemsworth (“Bad Times at the El Royale”), John C. Reilly (“The Sisters Brothers”).
As Venice becomes ever more an Oscar platform, movies will now hit San Sebastian three weeks later, often off Toronto, their stars in tow, to capitalize on and push their potential Academy Award glory.
Otherwise, the big winner of the night was Benjamin Naishtat’s covert violence thriller “Rojo,” which took director, actor (Dario Grandinetti) and cinematography (Pedro Sotero).
This year’s edition saw a a hugely-raised Hollywood star quotient, a half score or more of A-list talent hailing into town to tub-thump titles: Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”), Ryan Gosling (“First Man”), Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma”), Robert Pattinson (“High Life”), Chris Hemsworth (“Bad Times at the El Royale”), John C. Reilly (“The Sisters Brothers”).
As Venice becomes ever more an Oscar platform, movies will now hit San Sebastian three weeks later, often off Toronto, their stars in tow, to capitalize on and push their potential Academy Award glory.
- 9/29/2018
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Debut feature receives its world premiere in San Sebastian’s New Directors competition this weekend.
Japanese studio Nikkatsu has picked up international rights to Jesus, directed by Hiroshi Okuyama, which receives its world premiere in San Sebastian’s New Directors competition this weekend.
The film marks the feature debut of the 22-year-old filmmaker, who has previously made short films and music videos, and is the youngest filmmaker to ever be selected for San Sebastian’s New Directors section.
Produced by Tadashi Yoshino, the independent production stars Yura Sato, Riki Okuma, Chad Mullane and Kibiki Yuko.
The story revolves around a...
Japanese studio Nikkatsu has picked up international rights to Jesus, directed by Hiroshi Okuyama, which receives its world premiere in San Sebastian’s New Directors competition this weekend.
The film marks the feature debut of the 22-year-old filmmaker, who has previously made short films and music videos, and is the youngest filmmaker to ever be selected for San Sebastian’s New Directors section.
Produced by Tadashi Yoshino, the independent production stars Yura Sato, Riki Okuma, Chad Mullane and Kibiki Yuko.
The story revolves around a...
- 9/21/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
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