Japanese Film Industry Opens Slowly to Embrace International Influences

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Papa Fujii’s Unexpected Journey,” a film project about a Japanese man’s attempt to understand his dead daughter’s life in Taiwan was named as the grand prize winner at the 2012 edition of the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion event. It wins a NT$1 million ($36,000) prize.Prizes were announced on Wednesday evening at a ceremony as part of the ongoing Golden Horse Film Festival (Nov.

In the world of filmmaking, there are always a dozen or so names of directors who cinephiles will argue about when it comes to answering the question—who is the best ever? However, if you narrow it down to animated features, many will immediately drop the name, Hayao Miyazaki.

GKIDS, the producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (Gyoko no Nikuko-chan).

The full list ranks a total of 100 records, with the top 20 – topped by ‘New Long Leg’ by Dry Cleaning, and rounded out with records like Japanese Breakfast’s ‘Jubilee’, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ by Little Simz and ‘Daddy’s Home’ by St. Vincent – all receiving new colourways exclusive to Rough Trade.In a statement shared alongside the news, Dry Cleaning said: “Rough Trade record shops have played a huge role in our musical lives.

TOKYO -- Emi Wada, the Japanese costume designer who won an Oscar for her work in Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran,” has died, Japanese media reports said Sunday. She was 84.Wada died Nov.

A.D. Amorosi If the team of Ghanaian-American playwright Jocelyn Bioh (“School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play”) and Kenyan-born director Saheem Ali brings nothing else to the stages of New York City, they are, most certainly, providers of both laugh-lines, and real and powerful exaltation.

Guy Lodge Film CriticFilm festivals have been the primary hatching-ground for Oscar contenders ever since the Academy’s tastes shifted predominantly from studio to independent cinema earlier this century — though in the international feature category, this has been the case for far longer.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNetflix aims to increase its appeal to Japanese filmmakers as the streaming giant engineers a pivot towards local production and feature movies, in particular.

Folks who are longtime readers of The Playlist will no doubt be familiar with our love of the work of filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda. And sadly, since the release of his 2019 film, “The Truth,” just a year after his Palme d’Or-winning “Shoplifters,” we have yet to see a new feature from the acclaimed director.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKore-eda Hirokazu, the celebrated Japanese director of Palme d’Or winning film ‘Shoplifters,’ is developing multiple projects for Netflix.He is currently at work developing a big-budget film that he will direct and a series, where he will be the showrunner and direct some episodes.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGlobal streaming giant, Netflix is in the process of unveiling a huge expansion of its slate of Japanese film and TV content. These are aimed at cementing and strengthening its position in the critical Japanese market and also showcasing live action and anime programming that is expected to cross borders.After the recent success of Korean series “Squid Game,” many eyes have turned to Asia for further high concept non-English-language shows.

Sega has trademarked the words “Sonic Frontiers” in both English and Japanese, leading to the belief that this could be the name of the upcoming Sonic title.Both the English and Japanese trademarks can be found on Chizai Watch, a website that publishes different patents, designs and trademarks from the Japan Patent Office.

Images of four women police want to speak with after a 'fail to stop' collision outside a restaurant have been released.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefFast-rising Philippines-based director Mikhail Red has gained a dedicated following after delivering a succession of powerful films in just a few years.In addition to establishing Red on the festival circuit – he has been consistently programmed by the Tokyo International Film Festival – his pictures have been acquired by Netflix.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefOkinawa-born actor Shogen used to be told that he didn’t look Japanese enough for the Japanese film industry.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentFujitsu Ryota, programmer of the Tokyo International Film Festival’s anime section, has taken ‘onko-chishin,’ a four-kanji-character term meaning “respect the past, create the new,” as the guideline for this year’s selection.The festival has featured Japanese animation focuses for several years, reflecting anime’s position as a key component of the Japanese film industry.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentFestival Ambassador for this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival, Hashimoto Ai is an inspired choice for the role and not only because she is an A-list actor who has starred in hit TV series (“Amachan”) and worked with internationally acclaimed directors like Nakashima Tetsuya (“Confessions”) and Yoshida Daihachi (“The Kirishima Thing”).She is also a certified film nerd, who has proclaimed her love of everything from 1970s “pink” (softcore adult) classics

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentJapanese death game series “Alice in Borderland” had already been a success for Netflix.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentOne way to help the film industry prepare for the post-COVID future would be to look at lessons from the past, a Monday seminar at TIFFCOM, the market component of the Tokyo International Film Festival, heard.Shiina Yasushi, head of TIFFCOM, said that Japanese film studios faced a similar dilemma with the growth of home video in the 1980s. They managed to counter falling box office revenues by getting into video themselves.

SANTA FE, N.M. -- The assistant director who handed Alec Baldwin the gun that killed a cinematographer says he hopes the tragedy prompts the film industry to “reevaluate its values and practices” to ensure no one is harmed again.David Halls released a statement to the New York Post, breaking his silence following the Oct.