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Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting have announced the upcoming winter releases for our streaming service, Screambox. This includes dates for recent acquisitions Breathing In, 2024 Macabro: Mexico City International Horror Film Festival’s Best Film winner, and the cringe-inducing exorcism horror Deus Irae, an official selection of the 2024 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.

Breathing In (premieres December 3) – Set in 1901, South Africa, a wounded general seeks refuge in the small home of a woman and her young daughter. Before long, he’ll learn the real reason why they’ve invited him and how they’ve survived on their own for so long. Jaco Bouwer directs this beautifully shot and tense horror thriller that stars Michele Burgers, Sven Ruygrok, and Jamie-Lee Money. Deus Irae (premieres December 10) – Follows Father Javier, who lives a fractured existence, claiming miracles, while he also hunts the possessed with Bibles, fire, and shotguns. This shockingly nasty horror was directed by...

Road movies have been becoming more and more common in the Japanese movie industry, particularly since the “opening” of the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, ten years after the initial events. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri also directs a film of the canon, although the aforementioned theme is just part of the narrative here, in a title that won Best Film, Best Actress and Best Screenplay in Shanghai and is headed by an impressive performance by Rinko Kikuchi.

Yoko is screening at Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

The Oscar-nominee plays the titular, 42-year-old woman, who is single and lives in her apartment in Tokyo, having a part time job as online customer support, and seemingly never going out, exhibiting an intense sense of agoraphobia and depression. When her cousin, Shigeru, comes knocking at her door in order to inform her that her estranged for 20 years father has died, Yoko is forced to leave...

Presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, and Japan Society

February 15-24, 2024 at Japan Society

and partner venues in NYC

New York, NY – Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan and Japan Society are proud to announce the eighth installment of the Aca Cinema Project film series – Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux – an ongoing initiative fostered by the Government of Japan to increase awareness and appreciation of Japanese films and filmmakers in the United States. The Aca Cinema Project has presented events in both New York and LA since 2021, and its upcoming edition will showcase over nine contemporary and classic films from February 15-24, 2024 all with the central theme of the modern family. The bonds of the Japanese family are often revered in the West, and this series will both celebrate these traditions as well as call into question their reality and relevance in our quickly changing modern world.

As part of the Aca Cinema Project––”an ongoing initiative fostered by the Government of Japan to increase awareness and appreciation of Japanese films and filmmakers in the United States”––Japan Society will run “Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux” from February 15-24. A mix of American premieres and repertory showings, this series puts “bonds of the Japanese family” front and center to “both celebrate these traditions as well as call into question their reality and relevance in our quickly changing modern world.”

U.S. premieres include Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Yoko, starring Rinko Kikuchi, and Keiko Tsuruoka’s Tsugaru Lacquer Girl. A special spotlight is given to Ryota Nakano, whose A Long Goodbye and exquisitely titled Her Love Boils Bathwater will be making New York debuts; his 2020 feature The Asadas also plays.

Repertory screenings will be held for Kohei Oguri’s Muddy River, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, Kore-eda’s Still Walking,...

Leaff 2023 brings a diverse programme from East and Southeast Asia, including international and UK premieres. This year, our programme will be showcased through these strands: Retrospective: Director Chung Ji-Young, Leaff’s Official Selection, Competition, Stories of Women, Halloween Horror Special, Cherish the World, Lgbtqia+ and Classics Restored. The festival will open and close at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square. Other screenings and Q&As will take place at Odeon Luxe West End and the Cinema at Selfridges.

For more information about tickets, please visit: https://www.leaff.org.uk/2023tickets

Here is the full programme:

Opening Gala

The Boys + Q&a with the Director | Dir. Chung Ji-Young | Korea | 2023 | 124 mins

Closing Gala

Concrete Utopia + Q&a with Director, Actor Park Bo-young | Dir. Um Tae-hwa | Korea | 2023 | 130 mins

Leaff Official Selection

The Breaking Ice | Dir. Anthony Chen | Singapore | 2022 | 97 mins

Dan Dan | Dir. Song Chuan | China | 2022 | 103 mins

Hidden Blade | Dir. Cheng Er | Hong Kong | 2022 | 128 mins

In Broad Daylight | Dir.

A middle-aged woman forced to return home after 20 years following the death of her father. A service that provides elderly call girls to socialize with lonely Japanese seniors. A grimly hilarious look at the pressures faced by Japanese women, itself a rebuttal to the post-covid social issue films that dare not flash a smile. These three films, “Yoko,” “Tea Friends” and “Ripples” are universal in their messaging while challenging taboos about Japanese culture and society.

TheWrap hosted a three-night film festival spotlighting emerging voices in Japanese cinema. “Yoko” director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri made an in-person appearance for the post-screening Q&a while “Tea Friends” director Bunji Sotoyama and “Ripples” filmmaker Naoko Ogigami participated via Zoom. All three shared, with the assistance of translator David Neptune, poignant insights and personal stories.

‘Tea Friends’ trailer Inspirations for art

The conversations around all three films began with inquiries as to what made the filmmakers...

The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (Aca) is sponsoring the seventh Aca Cinema Project — Emerging Japanese Films — as the cornerstone of its Japan Overseas Expansion Enhancement Project. Visual Industry Promotion Organization (Vipo) serves as the steward for the encore of this distinguished screening series. Three recently released, prestigious theatrical titles headline the event, which runs from Tuesday, September 26, through Thursday, September 28, at the Linwood Dunn Theater, Hollywood. Festivities are free of charge for accredited entertainment industry professionals.

Launching the Aca Cinema Project on September 26 at 7:00 p.m. is the stateside debut of Kazuyoshi Kumakiri‘s quirky, character-driven, road trip drama Yoko (2022; Trt: 113 minutes). Yoko represents the longtime professional reunion of director Kumakiri and Oscar®-nominated actress Rinko Kikuchi (Tokyo Vice, Babel). Yoko marks the 20-year follow-up to their initial collaboration, 2001 Rotterdam International Film Festival Fipresci Prize winner Hole in the Sky.

Aca Cinema Project offers two...

The U.S. premieres of the films Yoko, Ripple, and Tea Friends highlight the seventh Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (Aca) Cinema Project, which will spotlight “Emerging Japanese Films” in a series set to run Sept. 26-28 at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.

The Aca is sponsoring the series as the cornerstone of its Japan Overseas Expansion Enhancement Project. Visual Industry Promotion Organization (Vipo) serves as the steward for the encore of the screening series.

Launching the Aca Cinema Project on September 26 at 7:00 Pm is the stateside debut of Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s quirky, character-driven, road trip drama Yoko (2022; Trt: 113 minutes). Yoko represents the longtime professional reunion of director Kumakiri and Oscar-nominated actress Rinko Kikuchi. Yoko marks the 20-year follow-up to their initial collaboration, 2001 Rotterdam International Film Festival Fipresci Prize winner Hole in the Sky.

Set for September 27 is Ripples (2023; Trt: 120 minutes), a...

I've written about situational thrillers under Olympic-sized pool covers, atop mile-high radio tower platforms, and even locked in a rogue sailboat's bathroom — yet "#Manhole" still earns originality points. Director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri and writer Kazuyoshi Kumakiri pop the metal cover off an abandoned concrete basin like a bottle for catching fireflies. The single-location motivations behind "#Manhole" recall Mariano Cohn's SUV chamber piece "4x4," more obscure in presentation and nefariously themed. Where something like Rodrigo Cortés' "Buried" relies on the grounded claustrophobic trauma of being sealed alive in a coffin, "#Manhole" embraces absurdity and twisty storytelling beyond being stuck in one place. Cutthroat realism is traded for social media skewering amidst many other wicked veers into derangement, with a spike-tipped ending for the ages.

Yûto Nakajima stars as thriving Japanese businessman Shunsuke Kawamura. His coworkers throw him a congratulatory post-work party to celebrate his not-far-off wedding. Shunsuke walks home that night with a light-headed buzz,...

It takes a great deal of careful plotting to make a good confined single location thriller. Films such as Buried (2010), The Pool (2018), and 4×4 (2019) rely on a variety of complications to maintain tension without becoming repetitive or overstaying their welcome. It’s a delicate balance, but when it’s done well, the results can be electrifying.

Writer Michitaka Okada adopts a unique conceit for their latest, #Manhole, which readily employs social media to drive the narrative of a successful realtor, Shunsuke Kawamura (Yûto Nakajima), who falls down an open manhole the night before his wedding.

Director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri cues audiences that phones will play a vital part by opening with an elaborate split-screen video of Shunsuke’s work colleagues taping congratulations at his wedding party. Immediately following the party, a drunken Shunsuke bids his friend Kase (Kento Nagayama) goodbye, stumbles down the street and almost immediately falls down a hole in the ground.

Going simply by the awards handed out, the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival delivered on its promise to celebrate the emerging stars of both Asian and Chinese cinema.

There were Golden Goblet wins for established markets Japan and China, and those less known, including Uzbekistan. And there were some scene-stealing emotions shared up on stage at the Shanghai Grand Theater, including the moments when two of China’s biggest stars, Hu Ge and Da Peng, were jointly awarded the festival’s best actor prize and then shared memories of their long-lasting friendship.

Japanese director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri was certainly swept up by the occasion, as China’s major festival event marked a return to normalcy — and a return of international guests — after the travel restrictions and assorted uncertainties of the global pandemic.

Kumakiri’s Yoko picked up the festival’s best feature film, best actress and best screenplay awards in the...

“Yoko No Tabi” directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (“Manhole”) was crowned winner of Best Feature Film of the the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival, one of the leading festivals in East Asia, during the awards ceremony on Saturday.The film also bagged an award for Best Actress and one for Best Screenplay.

A human drama directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Mukoku) and headlined by Rinko Kikuchi. Other cast members include Pistol Takehara, Asuka Kurosawa, Jun Fubuki and Joe Odagiri. Kikuchi was recently nominated for best supporting actress in “Babel” at the 2007 Academy Awards.

Synopsis:

Given up her dream and life long ago, Yoko has been socially isolated for years and barely leaves her tiny apartment. When she receives the news of her estranged father's death, she is forced to leave the room and ride with her cousin to return home for the first time in 20 years. However, Yoko ends up left alone in the highway rest stop…...

Further winners included Spanish documentary ‘Muyeres’.

Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Japanese drama Yoko scored a hat-trick of prizes at the Shanghai International Film Festival’s (Siff) Golden Goblet Awards including best film.

The film’s Japanese lead Rinko Kikuchi was named best actress for her performance of Yoko, a 42-year-old single woman who embarks on long journey to her hometown after the death of her estranged father. The film also won the best screenplay prize.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Kikuchi previously received an Oscar nomination for 2006’s Babel and worked with director Kumakiri on Hole In The Sky...

Further winners included Spanish documentary ‘Muyeres’.

Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Japanese drama Yoko scored a hat-trick of prizes at the Shanghai International Film Festival’s (Siff) Golden Goblet Awards including best film.

The film’s Japanese lead Rinko Kikuchi was named best actress for her performance of Yoko, a 42-year-old single woman who embarks on long journey to her hometown after the death of her estranged father. The film also won the best screenplay prize.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Kikuchi previously received an Oscar nomination for 2006’s Babel and worked with director Kumakiri on Hole In The Sky...

Nyaff unveils first wave of features from China, Hong Kong, Japan and beyond.

The New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) has unveiled the first wave of features for its 22nd edition and announced that Japanese actor Ryohei Suzuki will receive the Screen International Rising Star award.

Nyaff will run from July 14-30 at the city’s Film at Lincoln Center, with a programme of more than 60 titles, and Suzuki will be presented with the award recognising emerging talent from East Asia on July 15.

Suzuki has been acting on screen for more than 15 years, with a string of roles in Japanese...

Exclusive: Quebec’s Fantasia International Film Festival will open its 27th edition with the North American premiere of Pascal Plante’s latest pic Red Rooms (Les chambres rouges).

Plante will bring the pic to his native Quebec following a Competition bow at Karlovy Vary in June. The film, Plante’s third, follows the high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier, which has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the case’s puzzle.

The Nicolas Cage-starrer Sympathy for the Devil will have its international premiere at Fantasia. Written by Luke Paradise, the pic follows “The Driver” (Joel Kinnaman), who finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse after being forced to drive a mysterious man, “The Passenger” (Cage). As their white-knuckle ride progresses, it becomes clear that...

The 25th edition marks a return in-person after being cancelled last year.

Han Yan’s Love Never Ends is set to open the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff), which has also revealed the nominations for its Golden Goblet Awards.

The romance drama is adapted from a cartoon of the same name created by Kang Full. Ni Dahong, Kara Wai, Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Cecilia Yip play two elderly couples who show it is never too late to love.

Director Han previously directed 2015’s Go Away Mr. Tumor and 2020’s A Little Red Flower. Love Never Ends is set for...

The Shanghai International Film Festival unveiled the competition selection for its 25th-anniversary edition Monday, featuring a lineup heavy on local Chinese titles, as well as substantial inclusion from Iran and Japan. Notably, though, festival organizers chose not to include a single film from the U.S. movie industry in their 2023 competition lineup.

The 2023 Shanghai festival, running June 9-18, will be the first version of the event that’s easily accessible to the global film industry since the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020. Last year, the festival was canceled in the wake of Shanghai’s monthlong Covid-19 lockdown and the government’s strict travel restrictions at the time. The festival was held the previous two years, but it became an almost entirely domestic Chinese affair, as flights in and out of China were hard to come by at the time (and all travelers had to endure lengthy and expensive hotel quarantines...

The 25th Shanghai International Film Festival, June 9 to 18, has unveiled the titles in contention for awards in its four main feature-length sections: main competition, Asian New Talent, Animation film and documentary. These are eligible for the festival’s prestigious Golden Goblet Awards, winners of which will be announced at the Shanghai Grand Theater on the evening of June 17.

While Siff remains the only mainland China festival to be accredited as a so-called A-list event by the International Federation of Film Producers (Fiapf), its selections are largely separate and distinct from those at other major international festivals.

While the lineup includes nine mainland Chinese titles, two from Hong Kong and five from Iran, there are, for instance, no films that hail from the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Korea.

Feature Film Competition

“All Ears” Dir. Liu Jiayin (China)

“Dust To Dust” Dir. Jonathan Li (China)

“Good Autumn, Mommy” Dir.

Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff) has unveiled the major competition selections for its 25th edition (June 9-18), which will be the first to be held in a fully physical format with international guests since before the pandemic.

The festival’s Golden Goblet Awards comprises five sections – Main Competition, Asian New Talent, Animation Film, Documentary Film and Short Film. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Shanghai Grand Theater on June 17.

Siff’s main competition will screen 12 films, including Mom, Is That You?!, from Japanese veteran filmmaker Yoji Yamada; European titles including Muyeres, from Spanish director Marta Lallana, and The Chapel, from Belgium’s Dominique Deruddere; Indian director Haobam Paban Kumar’s Joseph’s Son; and three Chinese titles – Liu Jiayin’s All Ears, Johnathan Li’s Dust To Dust and Chen Shizhong’s Good Autumn, Mommy.

Poland’s Jerzy Skolimowski is heading the jury for the main competition,...

Yoko is a 42-year-old single “freeter” (freelancing part-time worker) who has suffered setbacks and opposition from her father in pursuing her dreams. One day when she receives news of her estranged father's death, she decides to return to her hometown of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture for his funeral. Along the way, she encounters car troubles and being cash-strapped, embarks on a hitchhiking journey where she meets various people such as a desperate working single mum and a kind-hearted couple.

A human drama directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Mukoku) and headlined by Academy Award® nominee Rinko Kikuchi. Other cast members include Pistol Takehara, Asuka Kurosawa, Jun Fubuki and Joe Odagiri. This movie will premiere in Japan with a roadshow on July 28, 2023.

Twenty-five years after the international premiere of his graduation work “Banquet of The Beasts” in the Panorama section, and twenty-two after “Hole in the Sky”, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri is back in Berlin with the thriller “#Manhole” which celebrates its international premiere in the Berlinale Special program. In this one-man suspense drama, a relatively simple story of an unfortunate incident evolves into a film rich with unexpected twists.

“#Manhole” is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase

On the evening before his wedding day, Shunsuke (Yuto Nakajima) walks into into his own stag party he was unaware of. The mood is excellent: as congratulations pour in, so do drinks. A bit wobbly after a drink too many in a pub in Shibuya district, Shunsuke falls inside a manhole, and wakes up injured and unable to climb back to the street. To make things worse, his cellphone Gps stops working and...

It was either Nietzsche or Tex Avery — but one of our great philosophers — who asserted that there are two types of people in this world: those who walk through life blithely unbothered by manholes, and those who are destined to fall into them. Now, for curious members of the former class, comes an intimate examination of what it’s like to be one of the latter: “#Manhole,” Japanese director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s slick, increasingly deranged survival thriller about a man who will finally learn to know his true nature from a hole in the ground.

Popular, successful and possessed of highly covetable good looks, Shunsuke Kawamura has the world at his feet. It’s the eve of his wedding to the pregnant daughter of his company’s CEO, and his co-workers have organized a surprise party to toast his good fortune. Walking home drunk from the festivities, Shunsuke suddenly stumbles.

The stuck-in-one-place subgenre of horror is packed with clever concepts and places to be stuck in (from a coffin to a sailboat). #Manhole is the latest entry in this subgenre and it truly is one of these films where, no matter what it is anyone thinks is going on before watching, no one will ever guess what the actual twist is until it arrives. The film is the latest feature from Japanese genre director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri and it opened in Japan just a few weeks before premiering at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival. The title is officially #Manhole with the hash symbol, which makes sense once the film gets going and the social media subplot kicks in. This quick festival review will be spoiler free, as I'd rather everyone go watch this film without knowing anything more before heading in. It is not a spoiler to say that there are twists,...

Yuto Nakajima admits that is a great feeling to be roaming free on the streets of a city that doesn’t recognize his face. In Japan he wouldn’t last a meter without being surrounded by screaming fans. As the member of Hey! Say! Jump band, and as a famous TV personality, he has long forgotten what a quiet life is. It is therefore a great discovery to see him in a challenging role which is the one and only in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s cynical thriller gone horror, about a seemingly nice young man in distress who gradually shows his real face, although the face isn’t his at all.

We met with the Japanese director and his star in the Berlinale Palast, to discuss the wonderfully unpredictable movie “#Manhole”, the difficulties of shooting in a narrow space and the challenge of turning a one man show into a pulse-racing show.

Twenty-five years after the international premiere of his graduation work “Banquet of The Beasts” in the Panorama section, and twenty-two after “Hole in the Sky”, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri is back in Berlin with the thriller “#Manhole” which celebrates its international premiere in the Berlinale Special program. In this one-man suspense drama, a relatively simple story of an unfortunate incident evolves into a film rich with unexpected twists.

#Manhole is screening at Berlinale

On the evening before his wedding day, Shunsuke (Yuto Nakajima) walks into into his own stag party he was unaware of. The mood is excellent: as congratulations pour in, so do drinks. A bit wobbly after a drink too many in a pub in Shibuya district, Shunsuke falls inside a manhole, and wakes up injured and unable to climb back to the street. To make things worse, his cellphone Gps stops working and a heavy rain starts falling making his situation more insufferable.

What happens in the manhole stays in the manhole.

That would be one way to describe this initially intiguing and increasingly outrageous Japanese horror flick, which features pop star Yuto Nakajima as a young man who, on the eve of his wedding, falls into the film’s titular trap and can’t get out.

Directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Sketches of Kaitan City) from a script by Michitaka Okada (Masquerade Hotel), the movie definitely makes the most out of its setting, concocting dozens of obstacles to keep the suspense high as its hero gets sliced, bludgeoned, heralded on social media and poisoned by toxic sewage as he attempts to escape. But about midway through, #Manhole more or less jumps the shark — or is it the manhole? — by throwing in so many twists that it veers toward gory parody.

Premiering in Berlin’s Panorama section, the film should find an audience at home thanks to Nakajima,...

Leading executives from the Japanese firm outline their strategy for the year ahead.

Gaga Corporation has secured Japan rights to Max and Sam Eggers’ upcoming psychological horror The Front Room from A24.

It marks the feature directorial debut of the Eggers Brothers, whose sibling Robert Eggers has worked with A24 on The Witch and The Lighthouse. Max, who co-wrote The Lighthouse, and Sam, who co-wrote Olympia, adapted the screenplay from Susan Hill’s short story of the same name and the feature is in post-production.

The pre-buy builds on previous deals between Gaga and A24 that have included Everything Everywhere All At Once,...

Festival to also honour French cinematographer Caroline Champetier with honorary Berlinale Camera.

The Berlinale has added the world premiere of documentary Love To Love You, Donna Summer and a tribute to a century of Disney animation to its upcoming 73rd edition.

The additions complete the lineup for the Berlinale Special sidebar at the festival, set to run February 16-26.

Love To Love You, Donna Summer is co-directed by Roger Ross Williams, Oscar nominated in 2016 for Life, Animated, and US actress Brooklyn Sudano, who is the daughter of Summer and makes her directorial debut with the film.

The documentary will explore...

2023 truly begins taking shape with next month’s Berlinale, which will run from February 16 to February 26 and feature more than a few of our most-anticipated films this year. Among them are Christian Petzold’s Afire (Roter Himmel), starring new muse Paula Beer; Hong Sangsoo’s In Water, which will appear in the Encounters section; and Philippe Garrel’s The Plough, once known as La lune crevée starring his three children Louis, Esther, and Lena, and (judging from the still) his first color feature since 2011’s A Burning Hot Summer. Meanwhile: Angela Schanelec will return with Music, and––six years after the wonderful Person to Person––it’s nice spotting a new feature from Dustin Guy Defa, The Adults.

Find the lineup below and head back next month for our coverage of the festival headed by Kristen Stewart’s jury.

Competition

20,000 Species of Bees (Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren)

The Shadowless Tower (Zhang...

German director Robert Schwentke’s drama “Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes,” starring John Malkovich as the Roman-era Stoic philosopher, Alex Gibney’s untitled Boris Becker doc, and high-end European TV series “The Swarm” are set for Berlin Film Festival world premiers.

The Berlinale on Tuesday announced several titles that will screen out-of-competition across various sections, most of them as Berlinale Special galas.

Besides “Seneca” and the Becker doc the galas also comprise the European premiere of Canadian chiller “Infinity Pool,” directed by Brandon Cronenberg and starring Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgård; Todd Field’s “Tár” which premiered in Venice – and for which Field, Cate Blanchett and co-star Nina Hoss will hold an onstage concersation – Japanese thriller “#Mannhole” by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, and Peter Geyer’s animation feature “Loriot’s Great Cartoon Revue” about German multihyphenate Vicco von Bülow, aka Loriot.

“The Swarm,” which is the first title announced for the Berlinale Series section,...

John Malkovich starrer Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes and Alex Gibney’s untitled Boris Becker documentary are set to have their world premieres at the upcoming Berlin International Film Festival next year. The projects are among the six titles which will play in the fest’s Berlinale Special Gala section, which also includes Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool, starring Alexander Skarsgård, Mia Goth and Cleopatra Coleman and Todd Field’s Tár.

Infinity Pool will get its European premiere at the festival while Field and Tár stars Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir will attend the festival to give a public talk as part of the Berlinale Talents section.

The festival also announced its first project from its Berlinale Series section: Zdf’s eco-thriller The Swarm (Der Schwarm), based on the eponymous bestseller by Frank Schätzing. The project follows an international group of scientists who do research...

Click here to read the full article.

Ahead of the Christmas holidays, the Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled a number of films, and one series, that will screen out of competition at next year’s Berlinale.

Among the highlights are the world premieres of Infinity Pool, the latest horror feature from Canadian director Brandon Cronenberg, starring Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgård; the Roman-era drama Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes from German director Robert Schwentke (Red, The Captain), starring John Malkovich as the famed Stoic philosopher; and Alex Gibney’s as-yet-untitled documentary on disgraced former tennis champion Boris Becker. Seneca and the Becker documentary will have their world premieres in Berlin in the festival’s Berlinale Special sidebar. Infinity Pool‘s Berlinale bow will be a European premiere.

Berlin will also roll out the red carpet for Todd Field’s awards-season favorite Tár, which premiered in Venice, where it...

The full programme will be revealed in January 2023.

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 16-26) has announced six titles for its Berlinale Special Galas, including the world premieres of John Malkovich starrer Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes and Alex Gibney’s untitled Boris Becker documentary.

The festival has also unveiled eight Forum titles, including world premieres of Fiona Tan’s Dearest Fiona and Vincent Dieutre’s This Is The End.

In addition, the festival has named the first title to play in Berlinale Series, the eco-thriller The Swarm (Der Schwarm) – based on the eponymous bestseller by Frank Schätzing.

Robert Schwentke...

Gaga is “strong and we are growing” according to the renowned executive.

Tom Yoda, chairman of Japanese distributor and producer Gaga Corporation, wants everyone in Cannes to know that “Japan is on the mend” after the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even after a turbulent two years, Gaga is “strong and we are growing” according to the renowned executive. At the Marché, Gaga is announcing a multi-platform strategy that comprises international film distribution; local film and anime production; game and character businesses derived from anime; as well as “aggressive overseas market cultivation” and internet business. The latter involves Nft and metaverse businesses including VR.

Sho Miyake – directed his first feature, ‘Good for nothing’ in 2010. His ‘Playback’ debuted in competition at the 2012 Locarno International Film Festival and won him several directing awards in Japan. The ‘Cockpit’ premiered at the Cinéma du Réel documentary festival. He also directed TV dramas and video artwork. His new film ‘Wild Tour’ will be released in 2019.

Tasuku Emoto – actor who is from a family of prolific and well-respected character actors. His father is actor Akira Emoto, his mother is actress Kazue Tsunogae, his younger brother is actor Tokio Emoto, and his wife is actress Sakura Ando. He began acting as a young teenager and has since played many supporting roles and starred in a wide range of TV dramas and feature films. He was born in Tokyo on 1986 and attended Wako High School. His career began in 2001 while he was still a student. That year he auditioned for and won...

Quick takes from the 25th Raindance Film Festival, with public screenings in London through October 1st, 2017.

Black Hollow Cage

Thirteen-year-old Alice (Lowena McDonell) lives alone with her father (Julian Nicholson) in a striking modernist house in the middle of the woods. She is getting used to her new bionic arm and believes that their dog is actually her dead mother, though Dad insists this is not the case. (What Dad actually believes about the voice synthesizer the dog wears around her neck, which appears to be speaking the dog’s thoughts [the voice of Lucy Tillett], is not something Alice ever asks him. Maybe in this apparently future world, people’s pets talk to them as a matter of course.) And then two very young strangers, siblings Erika (Haydée Lysander) and Paul (Marc Puiggener) — she is badly beaten up, and he is mute — appear out of nowhere and disrupt Alice’s existence. Oh, and there...

London-based festival to open with Oh Lucy! with Josh Hartnett.

The 25th Raindance Film Festival (Sept 21 -Oct 2) has revealed the majority of its line-up and jury members.

The international premiere of Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy! (USA), starring Josh Hartnett, is the opening night film of the London-based event. The closing night film will be announced later this month.

The competition jury includes ex-bifa director Johanna Von Fischer, Spanish producer Rosa Bosch and actors Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight), Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), Sean Bean (Game Of Thrones), Christopher Eccleston (Dr Who), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Celia Imrie (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Training Day), Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda), Josh Whitehouse (Northern Soul), Neil Marshall (Game Of Thrones) and Rachel Portman (Chocolat).

They will preside over awards for a competition line-up that features the European premiere of Koichiro Miki’s Noise and the world premiere of Evald Johnson’s High & Outside: A Baseball...

If you are a fan of Lady Snowblood, you’ll know doubt know the intensity of Meiko Kaji, and how iconic her performance is. This is why the release of the Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection by Arrow Video should catch your interest straight away. If you’ve yet to experience the story of Nami Matsushima, also known as Scorpion this is your perfect chance.

The Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection includes four films: Scorpion, Jailhouse 41, Beast Stable, and #701’s Grudge Song. Being exploitation movies it they take a route that you’ll likely expect. There is plenty of nudity, and violence against women. You’ll have to have a strong stomach for some of the scenes which do include rape.

While this type of thing is used as a shock tactic in many more modern exploitation movies, there is a reason for this level of violence though.

Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of "Arrow Video" in the Us with several new home video titles available July 2016, including "The Swinging Cheerleaders" [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 5th),  "Crimes Of Passion [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 12th) and "Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection" [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 26th):

"The Swinging Cheerleaders" [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 5th): 

"'Kate', an undergraduate at 'Mesa University', goes undercover as a cheerleader for her college newspaper in order to expose 'female exploitation in contemporary society'. But instead of oppression she finds love, friendship and a bigger fish to fry: namely corruption in the football team, headed up by the coach and his pals..."

Cast includes Colleen Camp ("Wayne's World"), Rainbeaux Smith ("Caged Heat") and Playboy Playmate Rosanne Katon.

Bonus Materials include : 

- Brand new 2K restoration from original film materials

- High Definition (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD Presentations

- Optional subtitles 

- Audio commentary

- Brand new interview with Jack Hill

-...

Can’t get enough looks at Independence Day: Resurgence before its release on June 24th? Four new behind-the-scenes videos have dropped, giving us a look at some pivotal scenes in the film as well as a profile of director Roland Emmerich. Also: a Ghoster concept trailer, details on three new Arrow Video Us releases, and info on the Dances with Films screening of Beacon Point.

Watch Four New Independence Day: Resurgence Videos: “We always knew they were coming back. After Independence Day redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.

Directed by Roland Emmerich,...

This year’s Pia Film Festival (Pff) was held from 12 to 24 September at the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, in Tokyo, with the award-winning ceremony taking place on the last day. The jury was comprised from Eiji Okuda, Keishi Otomo, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (directors), Kazushige Abe (author) and Yoshiaki Nishimura (producer). The winners were:

Grand Prize: A Road (Daichi Sugimoto)

Runner-up Award: Moonlight Honeymoona(Taro Tominaga)

Special Jury Prize: The Lie and the Taint (Yuko Igari), Goron,Batan,Q (Kan Yamamoto), I’m an Artist(Raita Yabushita)

Entertainment Award (Horipro prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)

Audience Award: The Name of the Whale (Fumito Fujikawa)

Cinema Fan Award (Pia Eiga Seikatsu prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)

Gemstone Award (Nikkatsu prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)

Βραβείο P.E.N Club: The Name of the Whale (Fumito Fujikawa)

A road

Moonlight Honeymoon

The Lie and the Taint

Goron,...

Read More: San Sebastian Film Festival Announces 2015 Competition Titles The 63rd San Sebastian Film Festival will have a retrospective focusing on independent cinema produced in Japan over the last 15 years. The category will include works from both first-time directors as well as some of the country's most experienced.  The "Japanese Independent Cinema 2000-2015" retrospective is organized by the San Sebastian Festival, CulturArts-ivac (Valencia), the Filmoteca Vasca, the San Telmo Museum and the San Sebastian European Capital of Culture 2016. The retrospective will also be accompanied by the publication of a book by Shozo Ichiyama, a Japanese producer and director of programming at the Tokyo Filmex International Film Festival.  The titles for the retrospective include: 1. "H Story" (2001)- Directed by Nobuhiro Suwa  2. "Sora no ana" ("Hole in the Sky") (2001)- Directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri  3. "Border...

TwitchFilm is honored to have the distinction of announcing the award winners from this year's edition of the the Toronto Japanese Film Festival. By all accounts the festival continues to grow in popularity, it was their biggest festival so far. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's My Man, starring perennial TwitchFilm favorite Tadanobu Asano, took home the Jury Prize. And it is no surprise that Shinobu Yaguchi, director of crowd pleasers like Waterboys, Swing Girls and Robo-g, enchanted the crowd in Toronto with his latest film Wood Job! and won the audience award. The full press release follows. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's My Man and Shinobu Yaguchi's Wood Job! Take Major Awards at 2015 Toronto Japanese Film Festival. Masato Harada's Kakekomi also HonouredKazuyoshi Kumakiri's My Man was selected the winner of the Grand Jury Prize...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Retrospective will focus on Japanese independent cinema from the past 15 years and includes Cannes favourite Naomi Kawase.

The San Sebastian Film Festival is to programme a retrospective for its 63rd edition (Sept 18-26) titles New Japanese independent cinema 2000-2015.

Among the titles making up the retrospective from known directors are:

H Story (2001) by Nobuhiro Suwa;A Snake of June (Rokugatsu no hebi, 2002) by Shin’ya Tsukamoto;Bright Future (Akarui mirai, 2003) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa;Vibrator (2003) by Ryuichi Hiroki;Bashing (2005) by Masahiro Kobayashi;Birth/Mother (Tarachime, 2006) by Naomi Kawase;Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi, 2008) by Shion Sono.

The works of several new talents to have made their debut since 2000 include:

Hole in the Sky (Sora no ana, 2001) by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri,Border Line (2002) by Sang-il Lee,No One’s Ark (Baka no hakobune, 2003) by Nobuhiro Yamashita, The Soup, One Morning (Aru asa, soup wa, 2005) by Izumi Takahashi,Fourteen (Ju-yon-sai, 2007) by Hiromasa Hirosue,Sex Is Not Laughing Matter (Hito no sekkuso...

As 19 titles are revealed for the Zabaltegi section, Danis Tanovic’s Tigers is added to the official competition and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby has entered the Pearls section.

The 62nd San Sebastian Festival has unveiled the titles for its Zabaltegi section, a non-competitive strand featuring a variety of films, documentaries, shorts and television.

This year’s line-up will include world premieres of four features made in Spain: Virginia García del Pino’s Basilio Martín Patino. The Tenth Letter; Borja Cobeaga’s Negotiator; Francisco Sánchez Varela’s Paco De Lucía: La Búsqueda; and Pedro González Bermúdez’s documentary When Bette Davis Bids Farewell.

The strand will also include the Spanish premieres of the latest works by Ulrich Seidl and Kazuyoshi Kumakiri as well as a screening of Bruno Dumont’s TV series Lil´Quinquin.

In addition, Danis Tanovic’s Tigers will compete in the Official Selection, while the Pearls section has added Ned Benson’s relationship...

Japanese actress Fumi Nikaido receives the inaugural Screen International Rising Star award at the New York Asian Film Festival

Not only does Fumi Nikaido make brave and striking choices when it comes to her career path, favouring edgy indie fare over mainstream movies that might simplistically make the most of her teen model looks, but she is positively charming to meet.

The smile on her face when she accepted the Screen International Rising Star Award at the New York Asian Film Festival was honest and open…and when she added coyly: “…and can I take it home?” it was impossible not to be won over by her.

The same can be said for critics (and audiences) who have raved over her acting work over the last few years. Her breakthrough, was as the much-abused girlfriend of Shota Sometani’s violent hero in Sion Sono’s drama Himizu, which screened at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. The film won...

Japan was the big winner at this year’s Moscow International Film Festival which ended on Saturday evening with the Golden St. George trophy for best film going to Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s My Man (Watashi-No Otoko) [pictured].The film, which also received the Silver St. George best actor honours for Tadanobu Asano, had its international premiere in Moscow and was the first Japanese film to win the grand prix since Kaneto Shindo’s Will To Live received the honour

Japan was the big winner at this year’s Moscow International Film Festival which ended on Saturday evening with the Golden St. George trophy for best film going to Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s My Man (Watashi-No Otoko) [pictured].

The film, which also received the Silver St. George best actor honours for Tadanobu Asano, had its international premiere in Moscow and was the first Japanese film to win the grand prix since Kaneto Shindo’s Will To Live received the honour in 1999.

Kumakiri...

Tokyo — Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's My Man (Watashi no Otoko) won the best film award at the Moscow International Film Festival on Saturday, with Tadanobu Asano (Thor, 47 Ronin) taking best actor for his role as a man who becomes romantically involved with his adopted daughter. Film Review 'My Man (Watashi no otoko)' My Man is based on a novel by Kazuki Sakuraba and stars Fumi Nikaido (Himizu) as the daughter who lost her family in a tsunami that hit Japan's northern island of Hokkaido in 1993. It is the first victory in Moscow for a Japanese film since Kaneto Shindo's Will to

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35th edition of the festival runs June 19-28.

The Us documentary Red Army about the Soviet Red Army hockey team will open the 36th edition of the Moscow International Film Festival (Miff), which runs from June 19-28.

Directed by Gabe Polsky, the film was first shown at last month’s Cannes Film Festival and will be released in the Us by Sony Pictures.

Speaking at this week’s press conference, programme director Kirill Razlogov exxplained that documentaries have always played “a special role” at the festival - “documentaries are practically in all of the programmes” - and said that it was “symbolic” to open with a documentary.

The festival will be rounded off on June 28 at the Pushkinsky Cinema with a screening of Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Veteran Russian actor-director Gleb Panfilov (Vassa) will head the international jury for the main competition and will be joined by the German actress Franziska Petri, Georgian...