Marianne Metivier’s debut feature “The Splendour of Life” (“Une splendeur de vivre”) is set to start principal photography at locations across Canada and the Philippines, the producers revealed at the Cannes Film Festival.
The ensemble cast includes Camille Rutherford (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Garance Marillier (“Raw”), Sue Prado (“Your Mother’s Son”), Kyrie Samodio (“Hito”) and Amaryllis Tremblay (“Genesis”).
Set against a lush countryside backdrop, Marie (Rutherford) questions her relationship, while Noée (Marillier) grieves her father. In a stifling Montreal, Eva (Kyrie Samodio) searches for stability as Jeanne (Tremblay) plans her departure.
Canadian-Filipino Metivier won acclaim for her short “She Who Wears the Rain” that was selected for the Berlinale Short Film Competition in 2020.
Geneviève Gosselin-g. of Canada’s Le Foyer Films, known for “Richelieu”, partners with Alexa Rivero of France’s Altamar Films (Venice 2021 winner “The Great Movement”) and Wilfredo Manalang of the Philippines’ Fusee Media (Cannes 2022 winner “Plan 75”), as producers.
The ensemble cast includes Camille Rutherford (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Garance Marillier (“Raw”), Sue Prado (“Your Mother’s Son”), Kyrie Samodio (“Hito”) and Amaryllis Tremblay (“Genesis”).
Set against a lush countryside backdrop, Marie (Rutherford) questions her relationship, while Noée (Marillier) grieves her father. In a stifling Montreal, Eva (Kyrie Samodio) searches for stability as Jeanne (Tremblay) plans her departure.
Canadian-Filipino Metivier won acclaim for her short “She Who Wears the Rain” that was selected for the Berlinale Short Film Competition in 2020.
Geneviève Gosselin-g. of Canada’s Le Foyer Films, known for “Richelieu”, partners with Alexa Rivero of France’s Altamar Films (Venice 2021 winner “The Great Movement”) and Wilfredo Manalang of the Philippines’ Fusee Media (Cannes 2022 winner “Plan 75”), as producers.
- 5/22/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran and Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Loaded Films founder Eiko Mizuno-Gray and Kinoshita-Kansei Group CEO Masahide Kinoshita have teamed up to launch Tokyo-based production company, Kinofaction, which aims to focus on minority Japanese co-productions.
The new outfit will take a minority stake in feature film projects that have significant Japanese elements and/or talent involved. It is actively seeking projects initiated outside of Japan with strong festival and commercial potential.
Loaded Films, the production company founded by Mizuno-Gray and Jason Gray, will continue to separately produce a slate of projects developed in-house, including Renoir, the next project from Plan 75 director Chie Hayakawa, which Goodfellas has boarded for sales.
Kinofaction already has several projects on its slate, including Poland-set The Excursion, from writer-director Kei Ishikawa, whose credits include Venice titles Traces Of Sin (2016) and A Man (2020). His new project is a co-production with Poland’s Lava Films, which is here in Cannes with competition title The Girl With The Needle.
The new outfit will take a minority stake in feature film projects that have significant Japanese elements and/or talent involved. It is actively seeking projects initiated outside of Japan with strong festival and commercial potential.
Loaded Films, the production company founded by Mizuno-Gray and Jason Gray, will continue to separately produce a slate of projects developed in-house, including Renoir, the next project from Plan 75 director Chie Hayakawa, which Goodfellas has boarded for sales.
Kinofaction already has several projects on its slate, including Poland-set The Excursion, from writer-director Kei Ishikawa, whose credits include Venice titles Traces Of Sin (2016) and A Man (2020). His new project is a co-production with Poland’s Lava Films, which is here in Cannes with competition title The Girl With The Needle.
- 5/20/2024
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Goodfellas has acquired world sales rights for Japanese filmmaker Chie Hayakawa’s Tokyo-set drama Renoir ahead of the project’s presentation in the Investors Circle event at the Cannes Marché du Film on Sunday.
The film is Hayakawa’s second film after dystopian euthanasia drama Plan 75, which debuted in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2022, garnering a Special Mention in the Caméra d’Or contest for best first film.
The drama went on to play in more than 30 film festivals and was selected as Japan’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.
Renoir is set in suburban Tokyo in 1987 and revolves around 11-year-old Fuki, whose father is battling cancer, and is in and out of hospital.
With her mother stretched between caring for him and holding down a full-time job, Fuki is left to her own devices. Turning to her rich imagination, she becomes...
The film is Hayakawa’s second film after dystopian euthanasia drama Plan 75, which debuted in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2022, garnering a Special Mention in the Caméra d’Or contest for best first film.
The drama went on to play in more than 30 film festivals and was selected as Japan’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.
Renoir is set in suburban Tokyo in 1987 and revolves around 11-year-old Fuki, whose father is battling cancer, and is in and out of hospital.
With her mother stretched between caring for him and holding down a full-time job, Fuki is left to her own devices. Turning to her rich imagination, she becomes...
- 5/18/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Japan’s Happinet Phantom Studios is to handle world sales of Yoko Yamanaka’s Desert Of Namibia, which is set to world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
The drama marks the second feature of rising Japanese writer-director Yamanaka, who became the youngest director to premiere in Berlin aged 20 with her debut Amiko in 2018.
Her latest stars Yumi Kawai, whose credits include award-winning Plan 75, which played in Un Certain Regard in 2022, and Venice Horizons 2022 title A Man. A new look at Kawai in the film can be seen above.
She plays Kana, a bipolar 21-year-old who is directionless and...
The drama marks the second feature of rising Japanese writer-director Yamanaka, who became the youngest director to premiere in Berlin aged 20 with her debut Amiko in 2018.
Her latest stars Yumi Kawai, whose credits include award-winning Plan 75, which played in Un Certain Regard in 2022, and Venice Horizons 2022 title A Man. A new look at Kawai in the film can be seen above.
She plays Kana, a bipolar 21-year-old who is directionless and...
- 5/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
The new projects from two-time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund (The Triangle of Sadness, The Square); Irish director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium and upcoming Nicolas Cage thriller The Surfer); and Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Smoczyńska, director of Letitia Wright/Tamara Lawrance-starrer The Silent Twins, will be pitching to potential backers at this year’s Cannes Investors Circle, an event organized by the Cannes film market that aims to bring together top art-house talent with producers and financiers.
The 2024 Cannes Investors Circle event, held on May 19 at the Plage des Palmes, will showcase 10 never-before-seen films in various stages of development to an exclusive group of investors and film financing experts. The projects range in budget from €1 million ($1.07 million) to more than €20 million ($21.4 million) and have been specifically curated by the market.
“The aim of the Marché du Film with the Cannes Investors Circle is to support artistically and financially
ambitious film projects,...
The 2024 Cannes Investors Circle event, held on May 19 at the Plage des Palmes, will showcase 10 never-before-seen films in various stages of development to an exclusive group of investors and film financing experts. The projects range in budget from €1 million ($1.07 million) to more than €20 million ($21.4 million) and have been specifically curated by the market.
“The aim of the Marché du Film with the Cannes Investors Circle is to support artistically and financially
ambitious film projects,...
- 4/30/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Palme d’Or winning director Ruben Östlund is among 10 directors selected to present their upcoming feature film projects at the second edition of the Cannes Marché du Film’s Investors Circle initiative.
The one-day event, taking place on May 19, is aimed at connecting elevated, international feature film projects with film financiers and high-net worth individuals with a desire to invest in cinema.
Östlund, who won the Palme d’Or for The Square and Triangle of Sadness, which was also nominated for three Oscars, will attend the event in person.
The Marché du Film did not give details of the projects being showcased, but it is likely the director will be talking about upcoming airplane disaster movie The Entertainment System is Down, which he told Deadline last year he hopes to shoot in early 2025.
Other filmmakers due in Cannes for the event include Japan’s Chie Hayakawa, whose feature film debut...
The one-day event, taking place on May 19, is aimed at connecting elevated, international feature film projects with film financiers and high-net worth individuals with a desire to invest in cinema.
Östlund, who won the Palme d’Or for The Square and Triangle of Sadness, which was also nominated for three Oscars, will attend the event in person.
The Marché du Film did not give details of the projects being showcased, but it is likely the director will be talking about upcoming airplane disaster movie The Entertainment System is Down, which he told Deadline last year he hopes to shoot in early 2025.
Other filmmakers due in Cannes for the event include Japan’s Chie Hayakawa, whose feature film debut...
- 4/30/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The second edition of the Cannes Market’s Investors Circle will see 10 filmmakers, including Ruben Östlund and Nadav Lapid, present their latest projects to private investors.
The directors and their lead producers will pitch their films, which range from €1-20m in budget, on May 19 at an invitation-only event in the Plage des Palmes.
Alongside Östlund and Lapid is Japanese filmmaker Chie Hayakawa, whose debut Plan 75 received a Camera d’Or special mention in 2022. Other directors include Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan, who is already at the festival for Midnight Screenings title The Surfer, and Italian director Laura Samani who...
The directors and their lead producers will pitch their films, which range from €1-20m in budget, on May 19 at an invitation-only event in the Plage des Palmes.
Alongside Östlund and Lapid is Japanese filmmaker Chie Hayakawa, whose debut Plan 75 received a Camera d’Or special mention in 2022. Other directors include Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan, who is already at the festival for Midnight Screenings title The Surfer, and Italian director Laura Samani who...
- 4/30/2024
- ScreenDaily
Screen can exclusively reveal the first trailer for Konstantin Bojanov’s The Shameless ahead of the India-set love story’s world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Bulgarian director Bojanov’s third feature is about two women trying to escape a life of prostitution who fall in love, but must deal with an oppressive society rooted in centuries-old patriarchal traditions as they embark on a perilous journey to escape the law and find freedom.
The film is produced by Switzerland’s Akka Films, France’s Urban Factory, Bulgaria’s Klas Films, Taiwan’s House on Fire and India’s Teamo Productions HQ Limited.
Bulgarian director Bojanov’s third feature is about two women trying to escape a life of prostitution who fall in love, but must deal with an oppressive society rooted in centuries-old patriarchal traditions as they embark on a perilous journey to escape the law and find freedom.
The film is produced by Switzerland’s Akka Films, France’s Urban Factory, Bulgaria’s Klas Films, Taiwan’s House on Fire and India’s Teamo Productions HQ Limited.
- 4/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Catering directly to my interests, the Criterion Channel’s January lineup boasts two of my favorite things: James Gray and cats. In the former case it’s his first five features (itself a terrible reminder he only released five movies in 20 years); the latter shows felines the respect they deserve, from Kuroneko to The Long Goodbye, Tourneur’s Cat People and Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers. Meanwhile, Ava Gardner, Bertrand Tavernier, Isabel Sandoval, Ken Russell, Juleen Compton, George Harrison’s HandMade Films, and the Sundance Film Festival get retrospectives.
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
After being a high school literature teacher for ten years, Alemberg Ang shifted into a career of film producing. His filmmaking is shaped by his passion for socio-civic issues, and Philippine arts and literature. His films have traveled extensively to festivals in Busan, Cairo, Warsaw, Taipei, Tokyo, Shanghai, Torino and others, working with filmmakers like Loy Arcenas, Antoinette Jadaone, and Petersen Vargas. He was invited to the Unesco International Meeting of Independent Producers, Rotterdam Lab, Berlinale Talents, Talents Tokyo, and Seafic. His projects have participated at Cinemart, Locarno Open Doors, Tribeca Film Institute Network Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum, and Busan's Asian Project Market.
On the occasion of his participation in Qcinema's film market, we talked with him about the role of the producer and the misconceptions involved, producing shorts, documentaries and features and their differences, post-productions, his work in “Plan 75”, “Divine Factory”, and “Liway”, the Filipino movie industry,...
On the occasion of his participation in Qcinema's film market, we talked with him about the role of the producer and the misconceptions involved, producing shorts, documentaries and features and their differences, post-productions, his work in “Plan 75”, “Divine Factory”, and “Liway”, the Filipino movie industry,...
- 11/26/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Singaporean writer-director Nicole Midori Woodford is on a roll with her debut feature, Last Shadow At First Light, which premiered in New Directors at San Sebastian film festival and has two nominations at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSAs) for best screenplay and best performance (Mihaya Shirata).
Filmed in Singapore and Japan, the film follows a Singaporean teenage girl with a special connection to the spiritual world who goes on a road trip to uncover the mystery of her Japanese mother’s supposed death. She has been told her mother died by suicide during the recovery effort following the Japan 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed her maternal grandparents. But she doesn’t believe this to be true.
Meeting up with an uncle in Tokyo, they travel together to a town that was swept away by the tsunami although her uncle is more interested in the local pachinko parlour than helping with the quest.
Filmed in Singapore and Japan, the film follows a Singaporean teenage girl with a special connection to the spiritual world who goes on a road trip to uncover the mystery of her Japanese mother’s supposed death. She has been told her mother died by suicide during the recovery effort following the Japan 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed her maternal grandparents. But she doesn’t believe this to be true.
Meeting up with an uncle in Tokyo, they travel together to a town that was swept away by the tsunami although her uncle is more interested in the local pachinko parlour than helping with the quest.
- 11/2/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
A first trailer has been unveiled for Nicole Midori Woodford’s feature debut “Last Shadow at First Light,” which world premieres at the New Directors strand of the San Sebastian Film Festival.
The film is in competition for the New Directors Award. Starring acclaimed Japanese actor Nagase Masatoshi (“Sweet Bean”) and newcomer Shirata Mihaya, the film follows a teenage girl (Shirata) with a special ability to communicate with the spiritual world as she goes on a road trip from Singapore to Japan. On arrival, she is chaperoned by a cynical uncle (Nagase) to uncover the mystery of her strange dreams and her mother’s disappearance years ago. Tsutsui Mariko, Peter Yu (“A Land Imagined”) feature in supporting roles.
The feature is presented by Jeremy Chua’s Potocol (Singapore), Shozo Ichiyama’s Fourier Films (Japan), Studio Virc (Slovenia) and Happy Infinite Productions (Philippines), executive produced by Jermyn Wong and Sally Ng...
The film is in competition for the New Directors Award. Starring acclaimed Japanese actor Nagase Masatoshi (“Sweet Bean”) and newcomer Shirata Mihaya, the film follows a teenage girl (Shirata) with a special ability to communicate with the spiritual world as she goes on a road trip from Singapore to Japan. On arrival, she is chaperoned by a cynical uncle (Nagase) to uncover the mystery of her strange dreams and her mother’s disappearance years ago. Tsutsui Mariko, Peter Yu (“A Land Imagined”) feature in supporting roles.
The feature is presented by Jeremy Chua’s Potocol (Singapore), Shozo Ichiyama’s Fourier Films (Japan), Studio Virc (Slovenia) and Happy Infinite Productions (Philippines), executive produced by Jermyn Wong and Sally Ng...
- 9/23/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran and Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Marks the first time Japan has submitted a film by a non-Japanese director.
Japan has submitted Perfect Days by German filmmaker Wim Wenders for the best international feature film category at the 96th Academy Awards.
It represents the first time that Japan has selected a non-Japanese director in more than 70 years of submissions to the Oscars.
The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan chose the title from eight features, which is understood to have included strong contender The Boy And The Heron, likely the last feature of iconic animation filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, whose Spirited Away won best animated feature at...
Japan has submitted Perfect Days by German filmmaker Wim Wenders for the best international feature film category at the 96th Academy Awards.
It represents the first time that Japan has selected a non-Japanese director in more than 70 years of submissions to the Oscars.
The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan chose the title from eight features, which is understood to have included strong contender The Boy And The Heron, likely the last feature of iconic animation filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, whose Spirited Away won best animated feature at...
- 9/4/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Japanese movies can do it all; they could be thought-provoking and real-life-inspired films like Plan 75, which addresses the growing older population in Japan, as well as mindless anime adaptations like Assassination Classroom. In short, Japanese cinema boasts some of the most fantastic actors and talented directors in the world today, and Yusuke Ishida’s Zom 100 is no exception to the rule. Adapted from a manga by Haro Aso, this live-action movie is a young man’s journey towards freedom from corporate slavery and learning to follow his heart amidst a world infested by zombies. Starring Eiji Akaso, Mai Shiraishi, and Shuntaro Yanagi, among others, the movie shines as a horror comedy with a tinge of slice-of-life mixed into it, as Akira Tendo (Akaso) rediscovers himself when his surroundings are overrun by zombies. Read on for an exhaustive review of Zom 100, we hope this is right up your alley.
What Is The Movie About?...
What Is The Movie About?...
- 8/3/2023
- by Indrayudh Talukdar
- Film Fugitives
The accusation towards the previous generation is a theme quite frequent in the cinema not just of Japan, but also of Korea, with the current generation of filmmakers actually being quite vocal about it, as “Plan 75” proved eloquently. First-time feature director Yuta Shimotsu also deals with the same concept, by implementing an approach that moves towards the horror genre.
“Best Regards to All” is screening at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
A nursing student studying in Tokyo visits her grandparents who live in the country. The duo are quite happy to see her, as is her actually, and their meeting proceeds as smoothly as possible. Soon, however, the “Grandaughter” realizes that something is going on in the house, particularly having to do with a red door on the top floor, which actually brings back nightmares from the past, which she cannot clearly realize what they are about. Soon, her sense of unease grows exponentially,...
“Best Regards to All” is screening at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
A nursing student studying in Tokyo visits her grandparents who live in the country. The duo are quite happy to see her, as is her actually, and their meeting proceeds as smoothly as possible. Soon, however, the “Grandaughter” realizes that something is going on in the house, particularly having to do with a red door on the top floor, which actually brings back nightmares from the past, which she cannot clearly realize what they are about. Soon, her sense of unease grows exponentially,...
- 7/1/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
MIFFest to open with the world premiere of ‘Eraser’.
Acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To has been named jury president of the 6th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest), which will also honour Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang with a lifetime achievement award.
To will chair the festival’s competition jury, which also includes Vietnamese actress Truong Ngoc Anh, Japanese filmmaker Ryuichi Hiroki, Malaysian star Zizan Razak and Singaporean director Eric Khoo. To is a leading director of films such as Breaking News, Election, Exiled, Mad Detective and Drug War, and sat on the Berlinale international competition jury earlier this year.
MIFFest...
Acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To has been named jury president of the 6th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest), which will also honour Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang with a lifetime achievement award.
To will chair the festival’s competition jury, which also includes Vietnamese actress Truong Ngoc Anh, Japanese filmmaker Ryuichi Hiroki, Malaysian star Zizan Razak and Singaporean director Eric Khoo. To is a leading director of films such as Breaking News, Election, Exiled, Mad Detective and Drug War, and sat on the Berlinale international competition jury earlier this year.
MIFFest...
- 6/15/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
MIFFest to open with the world premiere of ‘Eraser’.
Acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To has been named jury president of the 6th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest), which will also honour Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang with a lifetime achievement award.
To will chair the festival’s competition jury, which also includes Vietnamese actress Truong Ngoc Anh, Japanese filmmaker Ryuichi Hiroki, Malaysian star Zizan Razak and Singaporean director Eric Khoo. To is a leading director of films such as Breaking News, Election, Exiled, Mad Detective and Drug War, and sat on the Berlinale international competition jury earlier this year.
MIFFest...
Acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To has been named jury president of the 6th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest), which will also honour Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang with a lifetime achievement award.
To will chair the festival’s competition jury, which also includes Vietnamese actress Truong Ngoc Anh, Japanese filmmaker Ryuichi Hiroki, Malaysian star Zizan Razak and Singaporean director Eric Khoo. To is a leading director of films such as Breaking News, Election, Exiled, Mad Detective and Drug War, and sat on the Berlinale international competition jury earlier this year.
MIFFest...
- 6/15/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Natacha Kaganski has joined Luxbox as festivals and acquisitions manager and Solène Colomer has been named sales & marketing coordinator.
Previously, Kaganski spent four years as acquisitions manager at Wild Bunch, where she handled deals for the French and international market as well as coordination for multi-territories deals with the Wild Bunch group, such as Germany, Spain and Italy.
She was involved in films likeVenice winner “Happening” by Audrey Diwan, Gaspar Noé’s “Vortex” or “Leila’s Brothers,” also taking part in first Wild Bunch productions.
Solène Colomer has one year of experience assisting the sales and production teams at Urban Group under her belt. She was involved in “Plan 75” by Chie Hayakawa and “If Only I Could Hibernate” by Zoljargal Purevdash which, as reported by Variety, has already made history in Cannes.
They complete the already existing team with president Fiorella Moretti and Jennyfer Gautier, head of international sales.
“Personally,...
Previously, Kaganski spent four years as acquisitions manager at Wild Bunch, where she handled deals for the French and international market as well as coordination for multi-territories deals with the Wild Bunch group, such as Germany, Spain and Italy.
She was involved in films likeVenice winner “Happening” by Audrey Diwan, Gaspar Noé’s “Vortex” or “Leila’s Brothers,” also taking part in first Wild Bunch productions.
Solène Colomer has one year of experience assisting the sales and production teams at Urban Group under her belt. She was involved in “Plan 75” by Chie Hayakawa and “If Only I Could Hibernate” by Zoljargal Purevdash which, as reported by Variety, has already made history in Cannes.
They complete the already existing team with president Fiorella Moretti and Jennyfer Gautier, head of international sales.
“Personally,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Happinet Phantom Studios to launch the project at the Cannes market.
Japan’s Happinet Phantom Studios is to launch sales at the Cannes market on an adaptation of The Box Man, directed by influential filmmaker Gakuryu Ishii and starring Masatoshi Nagase.
The 1973 novel was written by Kobo Abe and follows a nameless man who gives up his identity to live with a large cardboard box over his head, encountering a range of characters as he wanders the streets of Tokyo
Filming will begin this summer in Japan with a cast that includes Nagase, whose credits include Jim Jarmusch’s Cannes 2016 Competition title Paterson,...
Japan’s Happinet Phantom Studios is to launch sales at the Cannes market on an adaptation of The Box Man, directed by influential filmmaker Gakuryu Ishii and starring Masatoshi Nagase.
The 1973 novel was written by Kobo Abe and follows a nameless man who gives up his identity to live with a large cardboard box over his head, encountering a range of characters as he wanders the streets of Tokyo
Filming will begin this summer in Japan with a cast that includes Nagase, whose credits include Jim Jarmusch’s Cannes 2016 Competition title Paterson,...
- 5/17/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
To combat an ageing population, a future Japan passes a law to pay older citizens to sign up for an easeful death, in this weird and poignant film
This strange, melancholy film from Japan effectively makes the (unfashionable) case against euthanasia: that old people won’t want to be a bother or appear selfish and so will feel pressured into accepting state medicide. Director and co-writer Chie Hayakawa imagines a future in which Japan, burdened with an ageing population, proposes a supposedly voluntary but actually insidiously coercive arrangement called Plan 75, in which citizens of 75 years and above can sign up for an easeful death in return for 1,000 dollars which they can either spend on themselves or give away to their family. The system becomes a success, to the extent that a chilling Plan 65 is mooted, and the drama shows us how this creates a new burden for old people:...
This strange, melancholy film from Japan effectively makes the (unfashionable) case against euthanasia: that old people won’t want to be a bother or appear selfish and so will feel pressured into accepting state medicide. Director and co-writer Chie Hayakawa imagines a future in which Japan, burdened with an ageing population, proposes a supposedly voluntary but actually insidiously coercive arrangement called Plan 75, in which citizens of 75 years and above can sign up for an easeful death in return for 1,000 dollars which they can either spend on themselves or give away to their family. The system becomes a success, to the extent that a chilling Plan 65 is mooted, and the drama shows us how this creates a new burden for old people:...
- 5/10/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Disney’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” ruled the U.K. and Ireland box office with a £12 million ($15.2 million) opening, according to numbers released by Comscore.
The latest Marvel Studios release debuted at Number 1 with an 72% market share, according to Disney, and had the biggest three-day opening weekend of 2023.
In its fifth weekend, Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” collected £1.3 million in second place for a total of £49 million. In third position, in its third weekend, Studiocanal’s “Evil Dead Rise” earned £493,732 for a total of £4.4 million.
In fourth place, in its second weekend, eOne’s “The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry” collected £336,519 for a total of £2 million. Rounding off the top five was Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which took in £195,298 in its seventh weekend and now has a total of £17 million.
There were two debuts in the top 10. Rbe’s Punjabi-language film “Jodi,” headlined by...
The latest Marvel Studios release debuted at Number 1 with an 72% market share, according to Disney, and had the biggest three-day opening weekend of 2023.
In its fifth weekend, Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” collected £1.3 million in second place for a total of £49 million. In third position, in its third weekend, Studiocanal’s “Evil Dead Rise” earned £493,732 for a total of £4.4 million.
In fourth place, in its second weekend, eOne’s “The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry” collected £336,519 for a total of £2 million. Rounding off the top five was Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which took in £195,298 in its seventh weekend and now has a total of £17 million.
There were two debuts in the top 10. Rbe’s Punjabi-language film “Jodi,” headlined by...
- 5/9/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Firm has hired Eric Mabillon as head of business and legal affairs
Paris-based Urban Group has hired Eric Mabillon as head of business and legal affairs and has made a number of key appointments across its sales, distribution and production divisions.
Urban Group is home to sales companies Urban Sales and Reservoir Docs, French distributor Urban Distribution and production arm Urban Factory.
Mabillon has joined Urban Group as head of business and legal affairs. He has previously been head of business and legal affairs at Paradis Films and Celluloid Dreams as well as in charge of legal affairs for Le Pacte...
Paris-based Urban Group has hired Eric Mabillon as head of business and legal affairs and has made a number of key appointments across its sales, distribution and production divisions.
Urban Group is home to sales companies Urban Sales and Reservoir Docs, French distributor Urban Distribution and production arm Urban Factory.
Mabillon has joined Urban Group as head of business and legal affairs. He has previously been head of business and legal affairs at Paradis Films and Celluloid Dreams as well as in charge of legal affairs for Le Pacte...
- 5/3/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The pioneering Far East Film Festival (Feff), held annually in the picturesque Northern Italian city of Udine, continued making history with its 25th-anniversary edition this year. At the closing ceremony on Sunday, Malaysian drama Abang Adik, written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Jin Ong, achieved a clean sweep of the highest prizes, marking the first time that a film from the Southeast Asian nation took top honors at the specialty festival.
Abang Adik won Feff’s first-place Golden Mulberry audience award, as well as the Black Dragon critics’ prize and the White Mulberry Award for best first feature. Ong is a veteran figure of the Malaysian entertainment industry, having worked in the music business and film and TV production for many years (he’s produced well-received films like Shuttle Life, 2017; and Miss Andy, 2020; among others), but Abang Adik is his first film as a writer and director. The movie...
Abang Adik won Feff’s first-place Golden Mulberry audience award, as well as the Black Dragon critics’ prize and the White Mulberry Award for best first feature. Ong is a veteran figure of the Malaysian entertainment industry, having worked in the music business and film and TV production for many years (he’s produced well-received films like Shuttle Life, 2017; and Miss Andy, 2020; among others), but Abang Adik is his first film as a writer and director. The movie...
- 5/1/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
French actress Anaïs Demoustier (“Sweet Evil”) was announced Friday as the woman to chair this year’s Caméra d’Or jury at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The Caméra d’Or prize is presented to one debut feature film that is entered in Cannes’ Official Selection or a parallel category.
Demoustier won the 2020 César Award for Best Actress in Nicolas Pariser’s critical and box office hit “Alice and the Mayor.” She most recently appeared in Quentin Dupieux’s most recent film, “Smoking Causes Coughing.”
“Among my greatest joys as a spectator is seeing the debut film of a director who goes on to become a major force,” Demoustier said in a statement. “A gesture, the first one, one that forever anchors the necessity of a director and creates a desire to see him or her begin again. As an actress, I’ve been lucky to experience alongside young directors the...
Demoustier won the 2020 César Award for Best Actress in Nicolas Pariser’s critical and box office hit “Alice and the Mayor.” She most recently appeared in Quentin Dupieux’s most recent film, “Smoking Causes Coughing.”
“Among my greatest joys as a spectator is seeing the debut film of a director who goes on to become a major force,” Demoustier said in a statement. “A gesture, the first one, one that forever anchors the necessity of a director and creates a desire to see him or her begin again. As an actress, I’ve been lucky to experience alongside young directors the...
- 4/28/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Raphael Personnaz, Nathalie Durand also on jury.
French actress Anaïs Demoustier will head the Caméra d’Or jury for the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
Alongside Demoustier on the six-person jury are actor Raphael Personnaz; director of photography Nathalie Durand; screenwriter and director Mikael Buch; Sophie Frilley, CEO of Titrafilm; and Nicolas Marcade, editor-in-chief of Fiches du Cinéma et l’Annuel du Cinéma.
The jury will award the Camera d’Or for best first feature film from the Official Selection and parallel sections at the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday, May 27.
Demoustier is known for films such as Alice And The Mayor,...
French actress Anaïs Demoustier will head the Caméra d’Or jury for the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
Alongside Demoustier on the six-person jury are actor Raphael Personnaz; director of photography Nathalie Durand; screenwriter and director Mikael Buch; Sophie Frilley, CEO of Titrafilm; and Nicolas Marcade, editor-in-chief of Fiches du Cinéma et l’Annuel du Cinéma.
The jury will award the Camera d’Or for best first feature film from the Official Selection and parallel sections at the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday, May 27.
Demoustier is known for films such as Alice And The Mayor,...
- 4/28/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
In Plan 75, Japan suffers two existential crises: the very real economic and societal strains of its aging population and, worse yet, a severe loss of empathy. It’s set in an alternative present where older people are at best ostracised from society; at worst they’re targets of violent hate crimes. Grasping for a solution, or perhaps eyeing a nefarious opportunity, the government introduces a voluntary euthanasia program.
The director of this engrossing, chilling, depressingly plausible dystopia is Chie Hayakawa, a first-time filmmaker from Tokyo who got a special mention from Rossy de Palma’s Un Certain Regard jury in Cannes last summer. Expanding on her 2018 short of the same name, Plan 75 is both compelling and overstuffed. Hayakawa splits her story into four perspectives, though I’d wager any two might have done the trick. The best protagonist is Michi (Chieko Baisho), a seemingly single and childless woman of 81 who,...
The director of this engrossing, chilling, depressingly plausible dystopia is Chie Hayakawa, a first-time filmmaker from Tokyo who got a special mention from Rossy de Palma’s Un Certain Regard jury in Cannes last summer. Expanding on her 2018 short of the same name, Plan 75 is both compelling and overstuffed. Hayakawa splits her story into four perspectives, though I’d wager any two might have done the trick. The best protagonist is Michi (Chieko Baisho), a seemingly single and childless woman of 81 who,...
- 4/21/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
On July 26, 2016, a 26-year-old ex-employee of a Japanese care home for intellectually and mentally disabled people broke into his former place of work and stabbed 19 defenseless patients to death in their beds. Believing his massacre to be a kind of mercy for his victims — and a noble sacrifice for the benefit of the entire nation — the killer wrote that he envisioned “a world where a person with multiple disabilities can be euthanized, with an agreement from their guardians, when it is difficult for the person to carry out household and social activities.”
The killer claimed that doing so was a necessary step to protect the economy of the world’s most rapidly aging country; an economy that’s stressed even further by the highest life expectancy of any country on Earth, and crushes its young people under the financial burden of paying for that longevity in the face of Japan’s strained pension funds.
The killer claimed that doing so was a necessary step to protect the economy of the world’s most rapidly aging country; an economy that’s stressed even further by the highest life expectancy of any country on Earth, and crushes its young people under the financial burden of paying for that longevity in the face of Japan’s strained pension funds.
- 4/19/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Chieko Baisho in Plan 75
For most people, old age is hard work. It gets more difficult to do ordinary things, one is more likely to need care, and there’s a higher risk of becoming socially isolated. It’s still more difficult in a society which is hostile to older people, where discrimination affects basic needs. Some older people worry that their very existence is a burden on their loved ones. What if there was a simple, government-run program which would take care of all your affairs, give you a cash payment to enjoy or pass along , and provide you with a painless death? This is the premise of Plan 75, but as director Chie Hayakawa explains, reality is more complicated. Rather than exploring the rights or wrongs of euthanasia, she wanted to use this idea to explore attitudes towards elderly and otherwise vulnerable people, and to encourage empathy across generations.
For most people, old age is hard work. It gets more difficult to do ordinary things, one is more likely to need care, and there’s a higher risk of becoming socially isolated. It’s still more difficult in a society which is hostile to older people, where discrimination affects basic needs. Some older people worry that their very existence is a burden on their loved ones. What if there was a simple, government-run program which would take care of all your affairs, give you a cash payment to enjoy or pass along , and provide you with a painless death? This is the premise of Plan 75, but as director Chie Hayakawa explains, reality is more complicated. Rather than exploring the rights or wrongs of euthanasia, she wanted to use this idea to explore attitudes towards elderly and otherwise vulnerable people, and to encourage empathy across generations.
- 4/18/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The first highlights of the 23rd Nippon Connection Film Festival are set! From June 6 to 11, 2023, Frankfurt am Main in Germany will once again become the capital of Japanese cinema. For six days, you can immerse yourself in art and cinema from Japan at eight venues. There are around 100 exciting short and feature-length films to discover – from the latest blockbusters and anime to independent and documentary films. A varied supporting program with more than 50 workshops, concerts, lectures and exhibitions as well as a wide range of culinary specialties invite you to experience Japan with all your senses. The two festival centers with cinemas, bars and Japanese market stalls are again the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm and the Produktionshaus Naxos in Frankfurt am Main. The complete program and tickets will be available on NipponConnection.com starting May 12, 2023.
Nippon Rising Star Award Goes To Toko Miura!
The star guest of this year’s festival is Toko Miura,...
Nippon Rising Star Award Goes To Toko Miura!
The star guest of this year’s festival is Toko Miura,...
- 4/9/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Italy’s Far East Film Festival unveiled a power-packed lineup Wednesday for its 25th anniversary edition. The largest cinema event in Europe specializing in popular moviemaking from Asia, Feff will open April 21 with an inspired double bill, He Shuming’s hit Korea-Singapore co-production Ajoomma followed by first-time Taiwanese director Kai Ko’s black comedy Bad Education. And on April 29, the curtain will come down on the festival with the Italy premiere of legendary Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s latest blockbuster, Full River Red. Between those dates, the festival will screen 78 Asian films from 14 countries, including nine world premieres.
The organizers of Feff, founded in 1999 in the picturesque northern Italian city of Udine by festival pioneers Sabrina Baracetti and Thomas Bertacche, say the 2023 selection “aims to showcase the immense complexity of Asia more than ever before.” The lineup indeed presents a compelling snapshot of a wildly diverse content’s commercial cinema in flux.
The organizers of Feff, founded in 1999 in the picturesque northern Italian city of Udine by festival pioneers Sabrina Baracetti and Thomas Bertacche, say the 2023 selection “aims to showcase the immense complexity of Asia more than ever before.” The lineup indeed presents a compelling snapshot of a wildly diverse content’s commercial cinema in flux.
- 4/6/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
His filmography is kilometers long. Her discography is a collection of hits. Miyazaki, as a great admirer, secretly modeled Sophie Hatter, the main character of Howl's Moving Castle, on her… After Takeshi Kitano, awarded in 2022, the Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award at the Far East Film Festival will go this year to Baisho Chieko! The famous Japanese actress and singer will bring to Feff 25 her most recent film, “Plan 75” by Hayakawa Chie, and two films that she personally wanted to choose for the Udine audience: the very first “Tora-san” and “Where Spring Comes Late”.
Where Spring Comes Late
«When I learned that I had been invited to the Far East Film Festival in Udine and that I would receive an award – Baisho Chieko's words – I said to myself: “Really? For Plan 75?”. But instead… What a surprise! The Lifetime Achievement Golden Mulberry celebrates all the work I've done since...
Where Spring Comes Late
«When I learned that I had been invited to the Far East Film Festival in Udine and that I would receive an award – Baisho Chieko's words – I said to myself: “Really? For Plan 75?”. But instead… What a surprise! The Lifetime Achievement Golden Mulberry celebrates all the work I've done since...
- 3/23/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
"We're all alone in life." KimStim has announced an official US release date for this indie from Japan titled Plan 75, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Chie Hayakawa. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at last year's 2022 Cannes Film Festival, and stopped by Busan, Karlovy Vary, and Toronto. In a near dystopian future, Japan's government launches "Plan 75", a program encouraging the elderly to terminate their own lives to better handle its rapidly aging population. In Chie Hayakawa's remarkable and sensitive film, the lives of three ordinary citizens intersect in this new reality. "On the surface, the plan and its hawkers exude a kindness that serves as the film's chilling vision of bureaucratic indifference and our increasing loss of interconnectedness. However, Hayakawa's view is far from grim, as these characters soon learn to fully reckon with their own lives and what it truly means to live.
- 3/15/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, is back in full force in 2023, celebrating its 25th anniversary edition from April 21–29.
A key component of the celebrations will be a focus on the Asian films of the 1980s. “We have never programmed these films, nor put together this kind of program before,” says Thomas Bertacche, the Feff’s co-head. “But these were the films and directors that inspired us to shape Udine into the festival that it is today.”
Pitching the historical lineup as “hidden treasures,” the selection is expected to include early works by Japan’s Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Thailand’s Nonzee Nimibutr and South Korea’s Jan Sung-woo.
Roger Garcia, former executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, is set to curate a section on Leung Po-chi, the 83-year-old British-Hong Kong director who made the leap from commercials to TV and into film. Leung was at the...
A key component of the celebrations will be a focus on the Asian films of the 1980s. “We have never programmed these films, nor put together this kind of program before,” says Thomas Bertacche, the Feff’s co-head. “But these were the films and directors that inspired us to shape Udine into the festival that it is today.”
Pitching the historical lineup as “hidden treasures,” the selection is expected to include early works by Japan’s Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Thailand’s Nonzee Nimibutr and South Korea’s Jan Sung-woo.
Roger Garcia, former executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, is set to curate a section on Leung Po-chi, the 83-year-old British-Hong Kong director who made the leap from commercials to TV and into film. Leung was at the...
- 3/13/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
In European countries, increasing concerns are being raised about the fact that populations are getting older, but that’s nothing compared with Japan. More than 29% of its citizens are over the age of 60, the birth rate is 1.34 children per woman (2.3 is the number needed to keep a population static), and a longstanding reluctance to allow much immigration means that help isn’t going to come from outside. How is a government to manage a situation like that? This darkly satirical slice of futurism imagines a proposed solution: Plan 75.
Set just a few years into the future, this film imagines a country in which everybody is expected to keep working until the end of their days. Elderly people face discrimination in housing, with soaring rents, and there has also been an increasing number of hate crimes committed against them. Plan 75, whose adverts screen in the streets and in...
Set just a few years into the future, this film imagines a country in which everybody is expected to keep working until the end of their days. Elderly people face discrimination in housing, with soaring rents, and there has also been an increasing number of hate crimes committed against them. Plan 75, whose adverts screen in the streets and in...
- 3/9/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
One of the prestigious national cinema awards in Japan presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, the 65th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards announced its winners on February 24, 2023. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2022 within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Leading with 6 nominations, A Man by Kei Ishikawa, wins Best Film while Plan 75 by Chie Hayakawa picks up Best Director and Best Actress for Chieko Baisho. The full list of winners is described below.
Best Film
A Man
Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands
Small, Slow But Steady
Missing
Silent Parade
Dr Coto’s Clinic
Plan 75
Motherhood
Fragments of the Last Will
Wandering
A Man Best Director
Kei Ishikawa – A Man
Shinzo Katayama – Missing
Takahisa Zeze – Tombi: Father and Son; Fragments of the Last Will
Chie Hayakawa – Plan 75
Ryuichi Hiroki – 2 Women, Motherhood; Phases of the Moon
Best Actor
Sadao Abe – Lesson in Murder; I am...
Best Film
A Man
Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands
Small, Slow But Steady
Missing
Silent Parade
Dr Coto’s Clinic
Plan 75
Motherhood
Fragments of the Last Will
Wandering
A Man Best Director
Kei Ishikawa – A Man
Shinzo Katayama – Missing
Takahisa Zeze – Tombi: Father and Son; Fragments of the Last Will
Chie Hayakawa – Plan 75
Ryuichi Hiroki – 2 Women, Motherhood; Phases of the Moon
Best Actor
Sadao Abe – Lesson in Murder; I am...
- 2/28/2023
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
Action thriller, “Trigger” from writer-director Richard Somes has wrapped production and is beginning sales at the European Film Market.
“Trigger” (aka “Tokakk”) tells the story of a lonely security guard (portrayed by Arjo Atayde) previously discharged from the military due to his post-traumatic stress disorder. He finds himself embroiled in a different kind of war when a young woman (Julia Montes) seeks his protection against a corrupt police death squad. While the pair fight for their lives, the man must confront his inner demons to earn his redemption.
The film also stars Arjo Atayde (“Cattleya Killer”), Julia Montes (“Brothers”), Sid Lucero (“The End of History”) and Kokoy De Santos (“Game Boy”) and is produced by Wilfredo C. Manalang of Fusee (the company that co-produced Cannes Camera d’Or prize-winner “Plan 75”), Somes of Strawdog Studio Production, Ria Atayde and Sylvia Sanchez from Nathan Studios and Michaelangelo Masangkay, co-owner of Toronto-based...
“Trigger” (aka “Tokakk”) tells the story of a lonely security guard (portrayed by Arjo Atayde) previously discharged from the military due to his post-traumatic stress disorder. He finds himself embroiled in a different kind of war when a young woman (Julia Montes) seeks his protection against a corrupt police death squad. While the pair fight for their lives, the man must confront his inner demons to earn his redemption.
The film also stars Arjo Atayde (“Cattleya Killer”), Julia Montes (“Brothers”), Sid Lucero (“The End of History”) and Kokoy De Santos (“Game Boy”) and is produced by Wilfredo C. Manalang of Fusee (the company that co-produced Cannes Camera d’Or prize-winner “Plan 75”), Somes of Strawdog Studio Production, Ria Atayde and Sylvia Sanchez from Nathan Studios and Michaelangelo Masangkay, co-owner of Toronto-based...
- 2/19/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Dublin International Film Festival will run from February 23 - March 4.
World premieres of Fintan Connolly’s Barber and Claire Dix’s Spotlight are among the line-up for the Dublin International Film Festival.
Connolly’s Barber stars Aidan Gillen as a private investigator investing the disappearance of a wealthy widow’s granddaughter. Gillen previously led Connolly’s 2005 film Trouble With Sex which was nominated for eight Irish Film and Television awards.
Sunlight follows a recovering addict who is caring for his terminally ill sponsor. The cast includes Barry Ward and Liam Carney. Dix was last as Diff in 2013 with audience award-winner Broken Song.
World premieres of Fintan Connolly’s Barber and Claire Dix’s Spotlight are among the line-up for the Dublin International Film Festival.
Connolly’s Barber stars Aidan Gillen as a private investigator investing the disappearance of a wealthy widow’s granddaughter. Gillen previously led Connolly’s 2005 film Trouble With Sex which was nominated for eight Irish Film and Television awards.
Sunlight follows a recovering addict who is caring for his terminally ill sponsor. The cast includes Barry Ward and Liam Carney. Dix was last as Diff in 2013 with audience award-winner Broken Song.
- 2/8/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Manila-based Tba Studios has acquired Philippines theatrical rights to award-winning drama Plan 75, which is Japan’s submission for the best international feature category of the Academy Awards.
The Japanese-language film has a strong connection to the Philippines. It features Filipina actress Stefanie Arriane in the cast, while US-Filipino company Fusee is one of the producers, with Wilfredo C. Manalang, George Sommerrock and Alicia Catubay-Watt taking producer credits, and Alemberg Ang of the Philippines’ Daluyong Studios on board as co-producer.
The film was produced by Japan’s Loaded Films, Happinet Phantom Studios and Dongyu Club, with France’s Urban Factory, Fusee and Ang. Urban Sales is handling international sales outside of the co-production territories. Fusee retained Philippines rights.
Written and directed by acclaimed short film director Chie Hayakawa, the film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes film festival, where it won the Camera d’Or special mention.
The Japanese-language film has a strong connection to the Philippines. It features Filipina actress Stefanie Arriane in the cast, while US-Filipino company Fusee is one of the producers, with Wilfredo C. Manalang, George Sommerrock and Alicia Catubay-Watt taking producer credits, and Alemberg Ang of the Philippines’ Daluyong Studios on board as co-producer.
The film was produced by Japan’s Loaded Films, Happinet Phantom Studios and Dongyu Club, with France’s Urban Factory, Fusee and Ang. Urban Sales is handling international sales outside of the co-production territories. Fusee retained Philippines rights.
Written and directed by acclaimed short film director Chie Hayakawa, the film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes film festival, where it won the Camera d’Or special mention.
- 9/23/2022
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
What is the cost of living?
This question is at the core of "Plan 75," the debut film of Japanese director Chie Hayakawa. The soft-spoken drama imagines a near-future dystopia where Japan's super-aged society has strained the economy to a breaking point. Hayakawa is tapping into very real fears — and not ones limited to just Japan. Here in North America, the last decade has seen rising anxiety over a "silver tsunami" from the baby boomer generation leaving the workforce, requiring health care, and drawing pensions.
"Plan 75" unfurls like an extended thought experiment: What if, to deal with the "burden" of the elderly generation, the government developed a program to eliminate people over the age of 75? One that entices volunteers through messaging about "duty" and a substantial financial reward? This would, theoretically, allow citizens to choose their deaths — getting "control" over the inevitable, as one commercial puts it — in order...
This question is at the core of "Plan 75," the debut film of Japanese director Chie Hayakawa. The soft-spoken drama imagines a near-future dystopia where Japan's super-aged society has strained the economy to a breaking point. Hayakawa is tapping into very real fears — and not ones limited to just Japan. Here in North America, the last decade has seen rising anxiety over a "silver tsunami" from the baby boomer generation leaving the workforce, requiring health care, and drawing pensions.
"Plan 75" unfurls like an extended thought experiment: What if, to deal with the "burden" of the elderly generation, the government developed a program to eliminate people over the age of 75? One that entices volunteers through messaging about "duty" and a substantial financial reward? This would, theoretically, allow citizens to choose their deaths — getting "control" over the inevitable, as one commercial puts it — in order...
- 9/19/2022
- by Sarah Milner
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Filipino production house Daluyong Studios, founded by Alemberg Ang, a co-producer on Japan’s Best International Feature Oscars submission Plan 75, is partnering with Tan Si En’s Singapore-based Momo Film Co to co-produce a slate of features and documentaries.
The joint slate includes feature films Don’t Cry, Butterfly, from rising Vietnamese filmmaker Duong Dieu Linh; and Tropical Rain, Death-Scented Kiss, directed by US-Singapore animation filmmaker Charlotte Hong Bee Her; as well as short film and feature Bold Eagle, directed by the Philippines’ Whammy Alcazaren; and documentary feature Tens Across The Borders, from Sze-Wei Chan.
Daluyong previously partnered with Tan Si En and Anthony Chen’s Giraffe Pictures on Some Nights I Feel Like Walking, from Filipino filmmaker Petersen Vargas, which is currently in pre-production. The project, about a teenage runaway who falls in with a group of hustlers, won the Seafic Award at the 2019 Southeast Asia Fiction...
The joint slate includes feature films Don’t Cry, Butterfly, from rising Vietnamese filmmaker Duong Dieu Linh; and Tropical Rain, Death-Scented Kiss, directed by US-Singapore animation filmmaker Charlotte Hong Bee Her; as well as short film and feature Bold Eagle, directed by the Philippines’ Whammy Alcazaren; and documentary feature Tens Across The Borders, from Sze-Wei Chan.
Daluyong previously partnered with Tan Si En and Anthony Chen’s Giraffe Pictures on Some Nights I Feel Like Walking, from Filipino filmmaker Petersen Vargas, which is currently in pre-production. The project, about a teenage runaway who falls in with a group of hustlers, won the Seafic Award at the 2019 Southeast Asia Fiction...
- 9/19/2022
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Festival runs October 12-23.
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.
This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.
The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.
Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.
This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.
The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.
Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...
- 9/16/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/5/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/2/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival marked the return of the theatrical blockbuster.
Following their Croisette premieres, Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis helped reignite the post-covid box office. The former has earned 1.4 billion worldwide, including more than 700 million domestically. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is nowhere near that level, but with a 145 million domestic haul and a 270 million worldwide gross to date, it clearly shows the popcorn-munching crowd was hungry to return to cinemas, at least for big-budget studio releases with plenty of wiz-bang and razzle-dazzle.
Can Venice give the indie industry a similar push? The Venice Film Festival, which opens on Wednesday, Aug. 31 and runs through Sept. 10, kicks off the fall film season, traditionally the strongest quarter for “speciality” movies and art house fare. Venice’s 2022 lineup has plenty to appeal to indie audiences, from Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale with Brendan Fraser...
This year’s Cannes Film Festival marked the return of the theatrical blockbuster.
Following their Croisette premieres, Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis helped reignite the post-covid box office. The former has earned 1.4 billion worldwide, including more than 700 million domestically. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is nowhere near that level, but with a 145 million domestic haul and a 270 million worldwide gross to date, it clearly shows the popcorn-munching crowd was hungry to return to cinemas, at least for big-budget studio releases with plenty of wiz-bang and razzle-dazzle.
Can Venice give the indie industry a similar push? The Venice Film Festival, which opens on Wednesday, Aug. 31 and runs through Sept. 10, kicks off the fall film season, traditionally the strongest quarter for “speciality” movies and art house fare. Venice’s 2022 lineup has plenty to appeal to indie audiences, from Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale with Brendan Fraser...
- 8/31/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The festival runs July 21-31.
Alexandru Belc’s Metronom has picked up the award for best international film at the 39th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) this week.
The Romanian film was selected from 11 international titles, which included Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave and Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning. It centres around a teenage couple spending their last few days together in 1972. Belc also won the best director award when the film played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard selection earlier this year.
Berlinale managing director Mariette Rissenbeek, Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes and Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson comprised the jury.
Alexandru Belc’s Metronom has picked up the award for best international film at the 39th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) this week.
The Romanian film was selected from 11 international titles, which included Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave and Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning. It centres around a teenage couple spending their last few days together in 1972. Belc also won the best director award when the film played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard selection earlier this year.
Berlinale managing director Mariette Rissenbeek, Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes and Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson comprised the jury.
- 7/29/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Premiering in the Cannes sidebar, Un Certain Regard, where it received a special mention for the best newcomer, Chie Hayakawa’s “Plan 75” is a slow-burning drama that pivots on the issue of the rapid-ageing of Japanese society. Set somewhere in the near future, Japan has managed to figure it all out – a titular system enabling to get rid of the elders, through a modus operandi that resembles a modern rendition of “Ballad of Narayama”, albeit as a form of peaceful, quiet, and more importantly, legally authorized by the government euthanasia that is supposed to become a counter-plan for a progressively ageing society. In Hayakawa’s reality of Japan, citizens 75 years old and above can apply for their chance and be dismissed in their last trip by one of the Plan 75 Company’s guides; with that, they can serve the nation as their final act of compliance.
Hayakawa’s “Plan 75...
Hayakawa’s “Plan 75...
- 6/8/2022
- by Lukasz Mankowski
- AsianMoviePulse
Grand Prix shared between ‘Close’, ‘Stars At Noon’.
Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle Of Sadness has won the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2022.
More to follow.
This year’s jury was presided over by French actor Vincent Lindon, and also included Jasmine Trinca, Joachim Trier, Noomi Rapace, Jeff Nichols, Asghar Farhadi, Rebecca Hall, Ladj Ly and Deepika Padukone.
The winners of Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics Week were announced earlier this week.
Julia Ducournau’s Titane won the Palme d’Or last year, making Ducournau the first woman to win the prize outright (Jane Campion shared the title in...
Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle Of Sadness has won the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2022.
More to follow.
This year’s jury was presided over by French actor Vincent Lindon, and also included Jasmine Trinca, Joachim Trier, Noomi Rapace, Jeff Nichols, Asghar Farhadi, Rebecca Hall, Ladj Ly and Deepika Padukone.
The winners of Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics Week were announced earlier this week.
Julia Ducournau’s Titane won the Palme d’Or last year, making Ducournau the first woman to win the prize outright (Jane Campion shared the title in...
- 5/28/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Ruben Ostlund’s raucous film wins top prize, with Grand Prix shared by Lukas Dhont’s “Close” and Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon”
The film, an uproarious three-part comedy about fashion models, social-media influencers, class divides and projectile vomiting, is the second Palme win in five years for Swedish director Ostlund, who won for “The Square” in 2017. It is also the third consecutive win for U.S. distributor Neon, which took the top prize for “Titane” last year and “Parasite” in 2019. (There was no festival in 2020.)
The runner-up prize, the Grand Prix, was a tie between young Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s “Close” and veteran French filmmaker Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon.”
Also Read:
‘Triangle of Sadness’ Film Review: Gross-Out Comedy Is Overlong and Understuffed
Park Chan-Wook was named the festival’s best director for “Decision to Leave,” his elegant cross between a murder mystery and a romance.
The best...
The film, an uproarious three-part comedy about fashion models, social-media influencers, class divides and projectile vomiting, is the second Palme win in five years for Swedish director Ostlund, who won for “The Square” in 2017. It is also the third consecutive win for U.S. distributor Neon, which took the top prize for “Titane” last year and “Parasite” in 2019. (There was no festival in 2020.)
The runner-up prize, the Grand Prix, was a tie between young Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s “Close” and veteran French filmmaker Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon.”
Also Read:
‘Triangle of Sadness’ Film Review: Gross-Out Comedy Is Overlong and Understuffed
Park Chan-Wook was named the festival’s best director for “Decision to Leave,” his elegant cross between a murder mystery and a romance.
The best...
- 5/28/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Cannes — The awards show for the 75th anniversary Cannes Film Festival is underway, hosted by “Benedetta” star Virginie Efira, bringing 12 days of competition between 21 international features to a close. The jury spread the wealth, awarding three more prizes than typically expected of them — two ties and a special anniversary award.
Tying for second place, Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon” and Lukas Dhont’s “Close” shared the Grand Prix, eliciting boos from the press room. In Denis’ divisive — but undeniably seductive — tropical drama, Margaret Qualley plays an American journalist whose assignment in Nicaragua has run its course, forcing her to use her wits and her wiles to find a way out of the country, with the help of a seductive stranger (Joe Alwyn).
Korean director Park Chan-Wook won best director honors for his Hitchcockian thriller “Decision to Leave,” in which a detective falls for the widow of a murder victim. After...
Tying for second place, Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon” and Lukas Dhont’s “Close” shared the Grand Prix, eliciting boos from the press room. In Denis’ divisive — but undeniably seductive — tropical drama, Margaret Qualley plays an American journalist whose assignment in Nicaragua has run its course, forcing her to use her wits and her wiles to find a way out of the country, with the help of a seductive stranger (Joe Alwyn).
Korean director Park Chan-Wook won best director honors for his Hitchcockian thriller “Decision to Leave,” in which a detective falls for the widow of a murder victim. After...
- 5/28/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
A diet of rice and tofu, plenty of regular, gentle exercise and excellent hospitals: the Japanese have nailed the formula for getting old prolifically. With a little less than 30 of the population over 65, Japanese society is now officially termed as “super-aged.” Meanwhile, thanks to a low birth rate and an ingrained opposition to immigration, the total number of people is falling dramatically. Each year, there are fewer younger people to look after more older ones. It’s a slow-burn economic crisis.
Of course, there is an obvious solution, unthinkable in real life but very much in working order in Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75, which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. The plan of the title is a hypothetical government-funded program that merely offers seniors the chance to be bumped off quietly. It is never acknowledged to be a mass extermination program. On the contrary, it is entirely benevolent.
There...
Of course, there is an obvious solution, unthinkable in real life but very much in working order in Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75, which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. The plan of the title is a hypothetical government-funded program that merely offers seniors the chance to be bumped off quietly. It is never acknowledged to be a mass extermination program. On the contrary, it is entirely benevolent.
There...
- 5/28/2022
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
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