Japan’s Silver Bear-Winner Hamaguchi Ryusuke Plots His Next Film Moves

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentJapanese streaming platform U-Next will begin carrying a selection of HBO and HBO Max content from Thursday.HBO does not operate as a subscription service in Japan and for many years HBO content has instead been licensed to local players, including satellite channel Super! drama TV and pay-TV platform Wowow.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentHara Masato, a producer and executive who worked with Kurosawa Akira, Oshima Nagisa and other leading Japanese filmmakers in a seven-decade career, died on March 17 at age 89 of heart failure, distributor Asmik Ace announced Monday.Hara was the company’s first president, starting in 1998.

EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off its world premiere in the Berlin International Film Festival’s competition program, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize, Maria Speth’s feature documentary Mr Bachmann And His Class has sold into multiple territories.

Megan Fox‘s date night attire is unmatched. The Jennifer’s Body actress, 34, rocked a bright red trench-coat and patent leather pants while heading to dinner with boyfriend, Machine Gun Kelly (née Colson Baker) in Malibu on Thursday night.

Japanese Breakfast made her late-night TV debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night (March 15) – you can watch it below.The first of two performances saw Michelle Zauner deliver a one-take performance of her new single ‘Be Sweet’, featuring some familiar extraterrestrial faces that appear in the song’s video.She also shared an online performance of her track ‘Jimmy Fallon Big!’ from her 2017 album ‘Soft Sounds From Another Planet’.Originally written after a bandmate from her old

Japanese Breakfast was the musical guest on Monday night's episode of The Tonight Show. This gave Michelle Zauner the opportunity to perform new song "Be Sweet" as well as revive "Jimmy Fallon Big!" a song from her 2017 album Soft Sounds From Another Planet that references the show's host.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentThe pandemic has led to changes in production that could well be permanent, but its effect on content going forward is less clear.

Christopher Vourlias European Film Promotion, a network of 37 film promotion bodies from across the continent, is gathering 29 European sales companies from nine nations under the Europe! Umbrella at the virtual edition of the Hong Kong Intl. Film & TV Market (FilMart).For the second year running the annual event has been moved online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Vivienne Chow Hong Kong’s local streaming platform HMVOD enjoyed a 200% surge in usage following the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it plans to invest more in original content production and increase licensing of Japanese drama and animation.Cantonese-language original content proved to be successful during the pandemic as many people turned to online entertainment while they remained at home, says Tracy Ho, HMVOD’s CEO.

Apex Legends’ next new hero will reportedly be targeted towards a Japanese audience.In a recent interview with Famitsu, which was translated by Dexerto, Apex Legends’ game director Chad Grenier suggested that the next hero being introduced in the game will appeal to its massive Japanese fanbase.Grenier also spoke of the game’s recent release on Nintendo Switch, the most popular console in Japan.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentBerlin Grand Jury Prize winner “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s deft three-story reflection on chance, the legacy of love and the contrariness of erotic desire, has clinched further key territory sales for its sales agent M-Appeal World Sales.Fast on the footsteps of clinching the top Berlinale 2021 Silver Bear in March 5’s Berlin prize announcement, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” this week closed Spain

Magnolia Pictures has acquired the North American rights to Berlin Golden Bear winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn by Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude. The satire follows a high school teacher struggling with the fallout of her sex tape leaking online.

Christopher Vourlias Radu Jude’s “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” which won the Golden Bear for best film at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, has sold to major territories for Heretic Outreach, Variety has learned exclusively.The Romanian writer-director’s latest feature is an irreverent satire about a schoolteacher, Emi (Katia Pascariu), who finds her reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is uploaded on the internet.

Starting a serious art-house movie with an amateur porn video might seem bold, but for Radu Jude's Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn it was a winning move. The jury of the 71st Berlinale picked the Romanian drama, in which a schoolteacher is caught up in a scandal after a homemade sex tape with her husband (that video we see at the top) gets posted online, for this year's Golden Bear as the best film of the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorSales agent M-Appeal has closed further territory deals for Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which just won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.Benelux rights have gone to September Film, and StraDa Films has picked the film up in Greece. September Film plans to release the title theatrically post pandemic.

EXCLUSIVE: Japanese major Gaga will launch sales on 3D animated feature Ryoma! The Prince Of Tennis at the upcoming Filmart in Hong Kong (March 15-18).

Rebecca Davis editorJapanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi may be known for his deep explorations of women in love, but he never set out to specifically chronicle female intimacy.The filmmaker made his name with 2015’s epic five-hour-long “Happy Hour,” which follows the friendships and lives of four middle-class women in their thirties, followed by the unconventional love story “Asako I & II,” which competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018.He has returned to similar territory in a new

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi returns to what are fast becoming his signature themes in Berlin competition contender Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy: Odd coincidence, mysterious doubling, and intelligent women compelled by powerful but uncertain feelings. Many critics likened Hamaguchi's 2015 breakthrough, Happy Hour, to a sprawling literary novel (the film was five hours long and won plaudits for its beguiling dialog and finely observed set pieces).