Tokyo Film Festival Signs Gender Parity Pledge as Part of a Major Shakeup

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.

With vaccines getting distributed pretty damn fast in the US, we’re starting to see some cities begin to recover and make plans for in-person events in the summer and fall. In the world of film festivals, it appears that the first event to really attempt a full in-person experience is going to be this year’s Tribeca.

The Tribeca Film Festival is moving ahead with its 20th-anniversary edition this June, moving screenings to outdoor venues and becoming the first major U.S. film festival held in person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.As part of the festival, outdoor screenings will be held in all five New York City boroughs using portable 40-foot LED screens that will travel to different venues; community screenings will be included as part of the program.

Korea’s Busan International Film Festival has undergone a shakeup in its leadership team.

Jordan Moreau Cary Fukunaga is directing the film adaptation of the sci-fi comic book series “Tokyo Ghost” for Legendary.“Tokyo Ghost” is set in the year 2089, when humanity has become fully addicted to technology as an escape from reality.

Spike Lee, who was set to lead last year’s jury for the Cannes Film Festival that was ultimately cancelled by the pandemic, will preside over this year’s jury instead.

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.

It is truly beginning to feel like we’re in a time loop. It was only a year ago when the Cannes Film Festival announced that Spike Lee would be the Jury President for the film festival.

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.

The Tokyo International Film Festival unveiled a range of operational changes Monday, including the appointment of a new programming director and a move of locations within the Japanese capital. The shakeup reflects the continued influence of former Japanese diplomat Hiroyasu Ando, who was appointed festival chairman in 2019 and has vowed to boost the festival's global relevancy.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentFollowing his win of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the recently concluded Berlin Film Festival for “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” 42-year-old Hamaguchi Ryusuke suddenly finds himself catapulted to the directorial front ranks in his native Japan.It’s not that he’s exactly obscure there: Hamaguchi’s 2018 romantic drama “Asako I & II” was selected for the Cannes competition while his 2015 breakthrough, the five-hour-plus drama “Happy Hour,” won a group best

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentThe Japanese film industry has been relatively quick to recover from the pandemic, despite the slow rollout of vaccinations in Japan. So industry leaders are bringing lineups to FilMart packed with titles that will hopefully play to packed theaters at home in the coming months.One is Gaga Corporation, which is bringing “Junk Head,” a first feature by stop-motion animator Takahide Hori that has won kudos around the international festival circuit.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJapanese comedy-drama “Ito” (aka “Itomichi”) was named as the Grand Prix winner of the 16th edition of the Osaka Asian Film Festival. It also claimed the audience award.The festival ran March 5-14.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Sexual Drive,” a Japanese film about desire which premiered at January’s Rotterdam film festival, will be released in North America, following a licensing deal between sales agent Fortissimo Films and local distributor Film Movement. The deal was agreed following the recent European Film Market.Film Movement plans to show “Sexual Drive” at other festivals and also release it theatrically this year.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticWhen Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi made his return to fiction after time away in the realm of documentary, he dispensed with the idea that stories must conform to feature length.

Editor’s Note: Brian Tee has become a notable face of Asian Hollywood, providing representation to a community that has been wildly been underrepresented and, on more than one occasion, misrepresented. He has appeared in big banner films such as The Wolverine, Jurassic World, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market had a successful 2021 online edition with the participation of 12,000 attendees from 131 countries. The industry event, which took place March 1-5, gathered 504 exhibitors — 215 of which were newcomers at EFM — from 60 countries.

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