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Exclusive: Paris-based Pyramide International has secured sales rights outside of Asia to Lee Sang-il’s Kokuho, a Japanese drama set to world premiere next month in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.

Pyramide will also handle distribution in France while Tokyo-based Aniplex Inc. oversees sales for Asia. A release in Japan is set for June 6 through Toho.

The film centres on Kikuo, the son of a yakuza boss, who is taken under the wing of a renowned kabuki actor following the death of his father. The young man dedicates his life to the art of kabuki – a classical form of Japanese theatre...

Shinobu Yaguchi’s 2008 film ‘Happy Flight’ begins with a montage in which various flight attendants discuss different safety measures, from fastening seatbelts to the procedure of using oxygen masks during a flight. This montage resembles a commercial, particularly in an aviation-based film aimed at promoting safety measures, much like how other movies raise awareness about the harmful effects of smoking. It is understandable, given that the Japanese airline company All Nippon Airways supports the film’s creation; perhaps this scene is meant to educate passengers about flight safety. However, in a broader context, Shinobu Yaguchi seeks to convey that, just as safety measures are demonstrated for passengers, he is also crafting an experience for the audience—specifically, for their entertainment. And rightly so, for 103 minutes, ‘Happy Flight’ takes viewers on an entertaining journey through a light-hearted comedy about the heroic efforts of several misfits.

Happy Flight is streaming on Jff...

Michihito Fujii has been working like a factory lately for Netflix, with the majority of his latest works featuring in the streaming service, including “Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045”, and the more recent “Hard Days” and “Village” among others. His latest work, however, signals a change to a “tamer” narrative, as “The Parades” is a drama about the afterlife, inspired by the Fukushima disaster.

Click the image below to follow our Tribute to Netflix

Minako, a TV reporter and single mother, finds herself roaming the area she lived in after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, in search of her lost boy. Soon she realizes though, that she is dead and that the living cannot see or hear her. While getting totally lost about her new reality, she is discovered by Akira, a writer who is in the same situation, who takes her under his wing and introduces her to his...

The Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2024 will celebrate its 21st edition from July 13th (Sat) to 21st (Sun), 2024 for 9 days at Skip City, which is an integrated institution for digital cinema production.

(See: https://www.skipcity-dcf.jp/en/)

Submission period: January 31st, 2024 (Wed) – March 1st, 2024 (Fri)

Skip City International D-Cinema Festival remains committed to discovering and nurturing new talent, with the aim of helping these filmmakers seize new business opportunities that have arisen in the changing landscape of the film industry. Now calling for works (60 min. or longer) that have been shot digitally and must be the director's 1st, 2nd, or 3rd feature film from all over the world for the International Competition section.

Call for entries for the International Competition!!

Entry Deadline: Must be received by March 1st, 2024 (Fri)

Submit via FilmFreeway

https://filmfreeway.com/Skipcityinternationald-CinemaFESTIVAL (Online registration / Free)

All nominated films in competition categories are eligible for the Festival Organizers awards.

Ryuhei Kitamura has had a rather interesting career. Starting with some of the cult titles of the 00s, including “Versus”, “Azumi” and “LoveDeath”, he then shot a Godzilla and a “Lupin The Third” film, then he moved to Hollywood to shoot films with Ruby Rose and Jean Reno among others, and now he is back with “Three Sisters of Tenmasou”, a manga adaptation that shows his most sensitive side as of now.

Three Sisters of Tenmasou is screening at Japan Cuts

The particular manga is “Tenmasou no Sanshimai: Sky High” by Tsutomu Takahashi (published from 2013 to 2014 by Young Jump Comics) and revolves around the said inn, a quaint out-of-time place in the small port town of Mitsuse. The establishment functions as a stopping point for people on the verge of death to decide if they want to return to the world of the living, where they are in a coma from an accident or illness,...

We are happy to announce that the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2023 will celebrate its 20th anniversary edition from July 15th (Sat) to 23th (Sun), 2023 for 9 days at Skip City, which is an integrated institution for digital cinema production

(See: https://www.skipcity-dcf.jp/en/)

Submission period: January 25th, 2023 (Wed) – March 1st, 2023 (Wed)

We remain committed to discovering and nurturing new talent, with the aim of helping these filmmakers seize new business opportunities that have arisen in the changing landscape of the film industry. Now we call for works (60 min. or longer) that have been shot digitally and must be the director’s 1st, 2nd, or 3rd feature film from all over the world for the International Competition section.

Call for entries for the International Competition!!

Entry Deadline: Must be received by March 1st, 2023 (Wed)

Submit via FilmFreeway

https://filmfreeway.com/Skipcityinternationald-CinemaFESTIVAL (Online registration / Free)

Our International Competition welcomes you!

The 19th edition of Skip City International D-Cinema Festival had been physically held in three years from July 16 to July 24 (and virtually from July 21 to July 27), and wrapped at the Closing Ceremony, Sunday July 24. Jury and Audience award winners were announced at the Ceremony.

Softie (France), directed by Samuel Theis, received the Grand Prize in the International Competition. Magnetic Beats, directed by Vincent Maël Cardona, won the Best Director and Utama, directed by Alejandro Loayza Grisi, received Special Jury Prize. This year’s jury members were Shinobu Terajima, President of the Jury and the Berlinale Silver Bear winning actress, Daishi Matsunaga, the director of Hanalei Bay and Pieta in the Toilet, and Nam Dong-chul, Busan International Film Festival, Program Director. In addition, Her Way (France), directed by Cécile Ducrocq, was chosen for the Audience Award.

Skip City Award, which is selected from all Japanese films both in the International Competition and the Japanese Film Competition,...

Yoji Yamada’s 92nd film, which is based on the novel “Kinema no Kamisama” by popular multiple prize-winning novelist Maha Harada, inspired by her own family and experiences, is also a commemoration of Shochiku Films’ centennial, and particularly its trademark style, ‘Bright and Cheerful Shochiku Cinema’

“It’s a Flickering Life” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Goh is an elderly man who has always had problems with gambling, forcing his wife Yoshiko and daughter, Ayumu, to bail him out a number of times, despite the fact that he had repeatedly promised not to do it again. This time, however, neither his daughter nor his wife are willing to help once more, with the latter taking over all his financial matters on her hands, and sending him back to deal with his second big passion, cinema. Goh now has to go back to his old friend and associate from...

Skip City International D-Cinema Festival which started in 2004 in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, has been held every year as a “gateway for emerging talent” centered on the International Competition and the Japanese Film Competition (features and shorts). The festival launched the careers of Kazuya Shiraishi (Lesson in Murder), Ryota Nakano (The Asadas), Shinichiro Ueda (One Cut of the Dead), Shinzo Katayama (Missing) and many other directors who are leading the Japanese film industry as top runners and whose new movies audiences are looking forward to seeing.

The 19th edition will be held both at theaters and online from Saturday, July 16th in Skip City, Kawaguchi City in Saitama, with the physical screenings for the first time in three years since 2019.

On Wednesday, June 15th, a press conference was held to announce the full line-up, with the attendance of President of the Jury for International Competition, Shinobu Terajima (Actress) and President...

Festival opens with Teppe Isobe’s ’Deadly School’.

Eight local features wiill have their world premiere at Japan’s Skip City International D-Cinema Festival, which is running as a hybrid event from July 16.

The festival opens with the world premiere of Teppe Isobe’s coming of age drama Deadly School, which is adapted from the play by Kaoru Asakusa about high school girls working hard for their school festival. Teppe Isobe has won prizes at Skip City for three of his films Who Knows about My Life (2018), F is for Future (2019) and Cornflakes (2020).

Held in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, Skip City focuses on emerging talent,...

If you had the chance to live forever, would you take it? This question is central to Ken Ishikawa’s “Arc”, which made its debut in Japan in the summer of 2021. The film is based on the 2012 short story written by American author Ken Liu and deals with the ethics and philosophical implications of immortality through the eyes of an artistic and expressive young woman. Surprisingly heartfelt and beautifully shot, the film is a serene sci-fi escape that raises challenging questions.

“Arc” is screening at Asian Pop-up Cinema

Rina (Kyoko Yoshine) is a down on her luck young dancer whose chance encounter with creative genius Ema (Shinobu Terajima) lands her a job at ‘Eternity’. Keen to make the most of the opportunity presented, Rina dives headfirst into the company’s ‘BodyWerks’ endeavour, which sees dead bodies perfectly preserved and transformed into ‘living’ sculptures through a process called plastination. However, as...

Michihito Fujii was born in Tokyo and graduated from the Nihon University College of Art Screenplay course. While studying at the university, he started to write scripts and began his activities as a director. His first feature-length movie was ”Oh! Father”, based on the same-named novel by Kotaro Isaka. His film, “The Journalist” received 6 Japan Academy Prize nominations and won three, including Picture of the Year, Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role and Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.

On the occasion of “A Family” screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival, we speak with him about shooting a movie about and researching the yakuza, his opinion about the rather harsh, current anti-yakuza law, the cycle of violence, his cooperation with Go Ayano and other topics.

Why did you decide to shoot a film about the yakuza? What is your opinion about its state through the years and now?...

It seems Wakamatsu held some of his best for last, since after the epic “United Red Army”, he came up with another great movie, two years before his death. “Caterpillar” was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin Film Festival, where Shinobu Terajima received the Silver Bear for Best Actress.

The script is partially based on the homonymous, banned, 1929 short-story by Edokawa Rampo and takes place in the end of 1930s, just before the Second Sino-Japanese war and the beginning of WW2. Lieutenant Kyuzo Kurokawa returns to his home village, completely limbless, with no hearing, and with extensive burns covering half the right side of his head. At the same time, he is highly decorated with three medals and carries the title of “God of War”. His relatives are all stupefied by his condition, but quite hypocritically, try to convince his wife, Shigeko, that it...

The refined playbook of Japanese family drama allocates a close-meshed set of rules that many directors go by. At first sight, Hitoshi Yazaki’s “Sakura” is just another chapter. Based on a popular novel, teenage drama in a high school setting, food scenes at the dinner table, and a dog that the film is named after. But the renowned director, who started as Sogo Ishii’s assistant, lays out a false trail.

“Sakura” is screening on Japannual Film Festival

Hajime (Ryo Yoshizawa), Kaoru (Takumi Kitamura), and Miki (Nana Komatsu) live a happy life together with their parents at home. Hajime is the oldest good-looking baseball star of the family. He is the contrast to Kaoru, who has good grates but no luck with girls. Miki is the youngest sister, who mistrusts all the girls that the boys bring home. Sakura is the name of the family dog. Everything seems fine...

Actress Shinobu Terajima, director and photographer Mika Ninagawa, and Japanese-British artist Sputniko! will take part in Women in Motion, on Thursday next week.

The event is a special symposium hosted by the Tokyo International Film Festival and global fashion conglomerate Kering, and is the first time that the Cannes-based Women in Motion series has touched down in Japan. The talk will be facilitated by film journalist Atsuko Tatsuta

Women in Motion aims to spotlight women in the film industry and provide a platform to express their views on the representation of women – whether onscreen or within the industry in general, to talk about challenges they face, their own experiences, and the wider contribution of women.

Since its launch at Cannes in 2015, the program has sought to extend its reach into other areas of artistic production where gender inequality is present, among them photography.

Terajima made history in 2010 as the first...

One thing is for certain: Japanese directors are in the top of the family drama genre, which they have been perfecting since the beginning of the country’s cinema. And although “Dear Etranger” (the French word for stranger in case you were wondering) is not a masterpiece, it certainly proves the fact. The film won the Special Grand Prix of the Jury Award at the 2017 Montreal World Film Festival.

“Dear Etranger” screened at Japan Cuts 2018

The script is based on Kiyoshi Shigematsu’s 1996 novel “Osanago Warera ni Umare”. Makoto is an assistant manager to a big company and a career man who separates himself from his colleagues by being dedicated to his family, meaning he does not go for drinks with them after work, but instead prefers on returning to his house and spending time with his family. His family situation, however, is quite complicated, since he currently lives with his second wife,...

Italian distribution, production, and exhibition company Notorious Pictures is on a buying spree at the Cannes Film Market where they’ve acquired four high-profile titles, including Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots sci-fi-fier “Vivarium,” which world-premiered in Critics’ Week.

On the production side the expanding outfit has teamed up with Belgium’s Tarantula Productions on Islamic terrorism thriller “The Shift” after the announced pre-sale last week of global rights to Netflix of their upcoming English-language romcom “Love. Wedding. Repeat,” which is co-produced with the U.K.’s Tempo Productions and currently shooting in Rome.

In Cannes Notorious – whose name pays homage to both the Hitchcock film and the rock band Duran Duran – acquired Italian rights to “Vivarium” from Xyz Films.

From the U.K.’s Independent Film Company they’ve taken “One Thousand Paper Cranes” in which Evan Rachel Wood will star alongside Jim Sturgess and Shinobu Terajima; while from The...

Evan Rachel Wood has been tapped to star alongside Jim Sturgess and Shinobu Terajima in “One Thousand Paper Cranes,” the story of Hiroshima survivor Sadako Sasaki and author Eleanor Coerr, who wrote the worldwide bestselling children’s book “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.”

Independent has boarded sales ahead of Cannes, where the project will be at the Marche. CAA Media Finance is handling North American rights.

Richard Raymond (“Desert Dancer”) will direct the project from Ben Bolea’s script, which was featured on the Black List. Ian Bryce (“Saving Private Ryan”) will produce alongside Richard Raymond and Irene Yeung.

Also Read: 'Frozen 2': Evan Rachel Wood, Sterling K Brown in Talks to Join Cast

“One Thousand Paper Cranes” tells the true story of Sasaki, who was a two-year-old in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city in 1945. She was later diagnosed with leukemia caused by exposure to radiation from the blast.

Evan Rachel Wood will star alongside Jim Sturgess and Shinobu Terajima in “One Thousand Paper Cranes,” the story of Hiroshima survivor Sadako Sasaki and author Eleanor Coerr, who wrote the worldwide bestselling children’s book “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.” Independent has boarded sales ahead of Cannes, where the project will be at the Marche. CAA Media Finance is handling North American rights.

Richard Raymond (“Desert Dancer”) will direct from Ben Bolea’s script, which featured on the Black List, the roster of Hollywood’s hottest yet-to-be-produced screenplays. Ian Bryce (“Saving Private Ryan”) will produce alongside Richard Raymond and Irene Yeung.

The film will tell the true story of Sasaki, who was a 2-year-old in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city in 1945. She was later diagnosed with leukemia caused by exposure to radiation from the blast. She drew strength from a Japanese legend that, if she folded 1,000 paper cranes,...

Festival’s 31st edition built bridges to China and Southeast Asia.

French director Mikhael Hers’ Amanda was awarded the Tokyo Grand Prix at the close of this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff), while A First Farewell from China’s Lina Wang won best film in the Asian Future competition.

Amanda, about a young man who looks after his niece following his sister’s sudden death, also took the Wowow-sponsored best screenplay award. Danish drama Before The Frost took the Special Jury Prize and best actor for Jesper Christensen. Best director went to Italian filmmaker Edoardo De Angelis for The Vice Of Hope,...

Are these Asians "Crazy Rich" or are they "Crazy" and "Rich"? Find out as The Casual Cinecast reviews this new Romantic Comedy on their latest episode! 

Okay folks! You know the drill, every week The Casual Cinecast starts by talking about what films and television they've been watching. Justin started the newest Netflix true crime docuseries The Staircase. Mike watched the 2017 film from Atsuko Hirayanagi starring Shinobu Terajima and Josh Hartnett, Oh Lucy! Plus both Mike and Chris watched the new shark action film The Meg, starring Jason Statham, Bingbing Li and Rainn Wilson, directed by Jon Turtletaub! Chris wraps up our What's On Our Mind section by talking about the new Matt Groening Netflix animated series, Disenchantment! 

Then Mike, Chris and Justin move into their featured review of Crazy Rich Asians, directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yoeh, Awkwafina and many, many more!

One thing is for certain: Japanese directors are in the top of the family drama genre, which they have been perfecting since the beginning of the country’s cinema. And although “Dear Etranger” (the French word for stranger in case you were wondering) is not a masterpiece, it certainly proves the fact. The film won the Special Grand Prix of the Jury Award at the 2017 Montreal World Film Festival.

Dear Etranger is screening at Japan Cuts 2018

The script is based on Kiyoshi Shigematsu’s 1996 novel “Osanago Warera ni Umare”. Makoto is an assistant manager to a big company and a career man who separates himself from his colleagues by being dedicated to his family, meaning he does not go for drinks with them after work, but instead prefers on returning to his house and spending time with his family. His family situation, however, is quite complicated, since he currently lives with his second wife,...

The Japanese film industry, whose idea of an “international co-production” was once a shortish shoot in Los Angeles, is now freeing itself from an almost exclusively local focus.

Fresh from his Palme d’Or victory in Cannes with “Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda recently confirmed that he will be returning to France to make his next film. His “The Truth About Catherine,” starring Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, according to sales agent Wild Bunch, will be shot mostly in France, starting this fall.

Binoche also stars in “Vision,” Naomi Kawase’s drama about a French journalist who journeys to Nara Province to research a mysterious herb. Released on June 8 in Japan, the film is a co-production between Kawase’s own Kumie production cooperative and Paris-based Slot Machine.

Another much-lauded veteran, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, made his 2016 horror/drama “The Woman in the Silver Plate” in France, with French, Belgian and Japanese backing. Since May,...

Young and beautiful, EstAsia Festival is back with its 3rd edition in Reggio Emilia, one of the more bountiful regions of of Italy, from the 11th to the 18th of June 2018.

Curated by Cineclub Peyote, Fondazione Palazzo Magnani e Comune di Reggio Emilia, EstAsia’s aim is to brings to the big screen a selection of the best Asian Movies seen over the year in Festivals but unseen in Italian cinemas. The participant countries include India, Vietnam and Singapore but this edition has allowed more space to explore works from China and Japan.

EstAsia has finally revealed the full programme of its 2018 edition. The selection is very promising and comprises a good mix of both independent and commercial features, plus some European premieres, and this year – for the first time – a jury will award a winner. The Festival will have also some international guests introducing their works to the audience.

Yuichi is living a carefree and idle existence, afforded to him by his girlfriend who pays for all his expenses. With his days filled with watching TV and looking at online pornography, his attention begins to wander into the world of online hookups. Through a website, he meets Tomoko, a married woman who initially lies about her age on her profile. Despite the age difference between the two, Yuichi’s kind, curious nature and a shared interest in television programs, the two begin to build a romantic relationship.

The City of Betrayal is screening at Nippon Connection

As Yuichi and Tomoko’s relationship deepens and becomes more intimate, they begin to grow neglectful of their respective partners. With both still being financially and emotionally dependable on their partners, they scramble to keep their relationships going while maintaining their affair. When Tomoko becomes pregnant,the two must face their partners, confronting not just their own affair,...

“Oh Lucy!” is an American Japanese production directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi and based on Hirayanagi’s short film of the same name. Her short film obtained several international awards, leading to her debut feature “Oh Lucy!” This comedy-drama was first finalised in 2016 and it was shown at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in the International Critics’ Week section. The film is touring ever since, and is currently being displayed in different countries and receiving numerous favourable reviews.

Oh!Lucy! is screening at Nippon Connection

Setsuko Kawashima (Shinobu Terajima) is a frustrated office-worker and single woman. Her niece Mika (Shiori Kutsuna), a rebellious eccentric young lady, asks Setsuko if she wants to take English classes instead of her. Setsuko agrees to her request and soon after, her niece and her English teacher John (Josh Hartnett) leave for the United States. With her niece avoiding her mother and wanting to find John, Setsuko...

Shinobu Terajima, one of the most renowned Japanese actresses, will receive the Nippon Honor Award at the 18th Nippon Connection Film Festival in Frankfurt am Main. The award will be given out for the fourth time and honors personalities who have made outstanding contributions to Japanese film. The award ceremony will take place during the closing event of the Nippon Connection Festival on June 3, 7:45 p.m. at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm. Actress Shinobu Terajima will receive the Nippon Honor Award in person, giving the festival a glamorous finale with the screening of the romantic drama The City of Betrayal by Daisuke Miura. With Oh Lucy! by Atsuko Hirayanagi, Dear Etranger by Yukiko Mishima, and Vibrator by Ryuichi Hiroki, the Nippon Connection Film Festival presents further milestones of her impressive career. The Nippon Honor Award is kindly supported by Japan Airlines.

About Shinobu Terajima

Shinobu Terajima was born in Kyoto in...

The program of the 18th Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection in Frankfurt am Main is complete! From May 29 to June 3, 2018 the audience can discover more than 100 new short and feature films at the biggest festival for Japanese film worldwide – from blockbusters and anime to independent and documentary films. Almost all of the films will be presented as German, European- international, or world premieres. A diverse supporting program provides about 50 exciting cultural activities apart from the cinema. Numerous Japanese filmmakers, musicians, and artists will be our guests at the festival. As the guest of honor, renowned actress Shinobu Terajima will receive the Nippon Honor Award 2018. The events will take place at the festival centers at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and Theater Willy Praml in der Naxoshalle as well as four additional locations in Frankfurt am Main.

Nippon Cinema

Once more, many stars of the Japanese film scene will be expected to present...

Oh Lucy! screens Friday May 4th through Sunday May 6th at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The movie starts at 7:30pm all three evenings.

Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima) is a single, emotionally unfulfilled woman, seemingly stuck with a drab, meaningless life in Tokyo. At least until she’s convinced by her niece, Mika to enroll in an unorthodox English class that requires her to wear a blonde wig and take on an American alter ego named “Lucy.” This new identity awakens something dormant in Setsuko, and she quickly develops romantic feelings for her American instructor, John (Josh Hartnett). When John suddenly disappears from class and Setsuko learns that he and her niece were secretly dating, Setsuko enlists the help of her sister, Ayako and the pair fly halfway across the world to the outskirts of Southern California in search of the runaway couple. In a brave new world...

(l-r) Tom/Komori (Koji Yakusho), John (Josh Harnett), and Lucy/Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima), in director Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy. Photo courtesy of Film Movement ©

Director Atsuko Hirayanagi makes a strong feature film debut with Oh Lucy, a Japanese comedy/drama with a darker, absurdist undercurrent. Hirayanagi’s film mixes absurd comedy with a very dark undercurrent, in this strange tale of a lonely middle-aged single Japanese women gaining a new view of life after signing up for a course to learn English that requires her to don a curly blonde wig and adopt a new identity as “Lucy.” Hirayanagi focuses on a type of character often overlooked and offers that character an unexpected second chance at life. The director also peppers her film with little comic absurdities, alternating with some moments of bracing darkness.

Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima) is a lonely, never-married middle-aged Japanese woman living a rather stilled life in Tokyo.

Atsuko Hirayanagi on Oh Lucy! executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay: "I started warning people. Because I don't want them to feel betrayed." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Atsuko Hirayanagi's wanderlust-y debut feature Oh Lucy!, co-written with Boris Frumin and based on her short film, stars Shinobu Terajima (Kôji Wakamatsu's Caterpillar) with Josh Hartnett (John Logan's Penny Dreadful), Kaho Minami (Zhuangzhuang Tian's The Go Master), Shioli Kutsuna (Masatoshi Kurakata's Neko Atsume House), and Kôji Yakusho (Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel).

Executive produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay with terrific work by costume designer Masae Miyamoto (Abbas Kiarostami's Like Someone In Love), Oh Lucy!, which had its world premiere at last year's Cannes Film Festival and received the Sundance Institute Nhk award in 2016, takes us on an unexpected road trip which made me recall a line from Jean Renoir's The Rules Of The Game (La...

Even getting bleeped during her best actress acceptance speech at the Golden Globes couldn’t stop Frances McDormand from sharing her excitement through some colorful language.

The Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri star, 60, let the expletives fly uncensored while accepting the award for best female lead at the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday.

“I continue to be amazed that you let me get to the microphone. What, are you crazy?” she started. “But what I know about today is that I get to swear.”

The actress continued, “Do you know how hard it’s been not to swear over the last couple of months?...

On the day before the Oscars, the Film Indepdnent Spirit Awards were handed out. In what may be a warm up for the Academy Awards, Get Out took Best Film, marking an excellent night overall for the movie. Impending Oscar winners Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell both won as well for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, while the rest of the winners you can see below… Here are all of the Spirit Award winners: Best Feature “Call Me by Your Name” “The Florida Project” “Get Out” (Winner) “Lady Bird” “The Rider” Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer) “Columbus” “Ingrid Goes West” (Winner) “Menashe” “Oh Lucy!” “Patti Cake$” John Cassavetes Award – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.) “Dayveon” “A Ghost Story” “Life and Nothing More” (Winner) “Most Beautiful Island” “The Transfiguration” Best Director Sean Baker,...

The 33rd Independent Spirit Awards took place on Saturday, March 3 in Los Angeles. The full winners list is below.

Best Feature

“Get Out”

Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele

“Call Me by Your Name”

Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman

“The Florida Project”

Producers: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou

“Lady Bird”

Producers: Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin

“The Rider”

Producers: Mollye Asher, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Chloé Zhao

Best Female Lead

Frances McDormand

“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Salma Hayek

“Beatriz at Dinner”

Margot Robbie

“I, Tonya”

Saoirse Ronan

“Lady Bird”

Shinobu Terajima

“Oh Lucy!”

Regina Williams

“Life and Nothing More”

Best Male Lead

Timothée Chalamet

“Call Me by Your Name”

Harris Dickinson

“Beach Rats”

James Franco

“The Disaster Artist”

Daniel Kaluuya

“Get Out...

Frances McDormand won top honors at the 2018 Indie Spirit Awards, taking home the prize for Best Actress for her acclaimed role in Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” McDormand beat out fellow nominees Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”), Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”), Salma Hayek (“Beatriz at Dinner”), Shinobu Terajima (“Oh Lucy!”), and Regina Williams (“Life and Nothing More”). Ronan and Robbie are also in the running for the Academy Award against McDormand Sunday night.

This is the third Indie Spirit Award for the actress out of four total nominations; she won previously for “Fargo” (1997) and “Friends With Money” (2007). McDormand has swept nearly all of the major Oscars precursors, winning the Golden Globe, SAG Award, and BAFTA for her role as Mildred, the steely grieving mother who rents three billboards provoking the local police chief to ramp up his investigation into her daughter’s murder.

“Do you know how hard...

Winners of the 2018 Independent Spirit Awards were revealed on March 3, one day before the Oscars. Many of the leading Academy Awards contenders were in the running here first, including “Call Me By Your Name,” “which reaped a leading six nominations, five-time nominee “Get Out,” and four-time contender “Lady Bird.” While “Three Billboards Outside, Ebbing Missouri” only reaped three bids here and was snubbed in the top race, it is the frontrunner to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Its closest rival there, “The Shape of Water,” was shut out of these precursor prizes.

See 2018 Independent Spirit Awards live blog

American feature film nominees, culled from entries with budgets of under $20 million, were determined by a committee of an unknown number drawn from “writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, actors, critics, casting directors, film festival programmers and other working film professionals.” Compare that to the selection process for winners in which the entire membership of Film Independent,...

The 2018 Independent Spirit Awards will be handed out on March 3, one day before the Oscars, during an afternoon ceremony on Santa Monica. The 33rd Indie Spirits, hosted for the second year in a row by the comedy team of Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, will air live on IFC.

Luca Guadagnino‘s “Call Me by Your Name” has a leading six nominations with both Ben and Josh Sadfie‘s “Good Time” and Jordan Peele‘s “Get Out” contending in five races apiece. Greta Gerwig‘s solo directorial debut “Lady Bird” follows with four.

Below, the full list of contenders broken down by film.

See 2018 Independent Spirit Awards: What time do 33rd Indie Spirits start, who will win, who hosts?

Six Nominations

“Call Me by Your Name”

Picture, Director (Luca Guadagnino), Actor (Timothee Chalamet), Supporting Actor (Armie Hammer), Cinematography, Film Editing

Five Nominations

“Get Out”

Picture, Director (Jordan Peele), Actor (Daniel Kaluuya), Screenplay,...

wide

Red Sparrow [my review]

Jennifer Lawrence stars as a Russian spy who uses manipulation to get what she wants. (male writer and director)

limited

Werewolf [IMDb]

Ashley McKenzie writes and directs this drama about outcast drug addicts, costarring Bhreagh MacNeil.

Oh, Lucy! [IMDb]

Atsuko Hirayanagi cowrites and directs this dramedy about a lonely Tokyo woman, played by Shinobu Terajima.

Chasing Great [IMDb]

Michelle Walshe cowrites and codirects this documentary about a (male) rugby player.

Dance Academy: The Comeback [IMDb]

Samantha Strauss writes this drama following the continuing stories of the gender-balanced ensemble from an Australian television show.

Eat Me [IMDb]

Jacqueline Wright writes and costars in this thriller about a woman and the (male) home invader who saves her mid-suicide attempt. (male director)

The Lullaby [IMDb]

Tarryn-Tanille Prinsloo writes this horror movie about a woman, played by Reine Swart, who is having difficulty as a new mother.

Hondros [IMDb]

Jenny Golden cowrites this documentary about a (male) war photojournalist.

Who will win the Independent Spirit Awards when they’re handed out this weekend on Saturday, March 3, at a ceremony hosted by Nick Kroll and John Mulaney? These awards, traditionally held the day before the Academy Awards, specifically celebrate low-budget and indie films produced for less than $20 million, which excludes Oscar fare like “Dunkirk,” “Phantom Thread” and “The Post.” But there are still numerous Oscar contenders in the Spirit Awards lineup, so these kudos could still give us a preview of what’s to come, especially when you consider that the Spirits presaged the Oscar upsets by “Spotlight” (2015) and “Moonlight” (2016) in the last two years. Scroll down for our complete predictions in 11 categories ranked in order of their racetrack odds. The projected winners are highlighted in gold.

These odds were generated by combining the predictions of more than 1,800 Gold Derby users who have entered their picks in our predictions center thus far.

Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) made SAG history in January when she became the first person to win Best Actress twice. She won’t get that title if she prevails in Best Actress at Saturday’s Independent Spirit Awards, but she could be No. 2, which is also pretty impressive.

With a leading 3/10 odds in our latest predictions, McDormand would join Julianne Moore as the category’s only two-time winners in the Spirit Awards’ 33-year history. Moore won for “Far From Heaven” (2002) and “Still Alice” (2014), while McDormand took home her first Spirit Award for “Fargo” (1996) — one of the film’s six wins.

See Frances McDormand (‘Three Billboards’) would be fifth double Best Actress Oscar winner with a 2-0 record

Unlike Moore, though, McDormand will likely claim the Oscar for both of her Spirit-winning roles. The “Three Billboards” star has 2/13 odds to score her second Best Actress Oscar.

McDormand is...

Oh Lucy! Film Movement Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Atsuko Hirayanagi Screenwriter: Atsuko Hirayanagi, Boris Frumin Cast: Shinobu Terajima, Josh Hartnett, Kaho Minami, Koji Yakusho, Shioli Kutsuna, Megan Mullally, Reiko Aylesworth Screened at: Critics’ Link, NYC, 1/18/18 Opens: February 23, 2018 In Japan where suicide is not looked upon as an entrance to an eternity […]

The post Oh Lucy! Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Call Me by Your Name, Get Out and Lady Bird all had great showings at the 2018 Independent Spirit Award nominations!

The nominees were announced on Tuesday morning, with the Armie Hammer-ledCall Me by Your Name leading the pack with six nominations, followed closely by Jordan Peele's critically acclaimed, genre-bending thriller Get Out with five, and Lady Bird, with four.

All three films are competing for Best Picture, along with The Florida Project and The Rider. The Independent Spirit Awards are sometimes seen as a tea leaf for how the Academy Awards will sway -- the Best Picture winner of this show has gone on to also earn the distinction at the Oscars for five out of the last six years.

Peele earned a nod in the Best Director category, and the film's lead, Daniel Kaluuya is up for Best Male Lead, along with James Franco, who is nominated for The Disaster Artist. In the Best Female...

The nominations for the 33rd Independent Spirit Awards are in, and “Get Out,” “Call Me by Your Name,” “Lady Bird,” “Good Time,” and more have dominated this year’s slate.

Read More: 2018 Oscar Predictions

Over the last several years, the Indie Spirits have become both a champion of underdog indies (see Molly Shannon winning Best Supporting Female last year for “Other People”) and a key indicator in which films and performances could end up with the Oscar (Casey Affleck and “Moonlight” for Best Picture last year). John Mulaney and Nick Kroll will return to host the 33rd Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, March 3.

The full nominations list is below.

Best Feature

“Call Me by Your Name”

“The Florida Project”

“Get Out”

“Lady Bird”

“The Rider”

Best Director

Jonas Carpignano, “A Ciambra”

Luca Guadagnino, “Call Me by Your Name”

Jordan Peele, “Get Out”

Sean Baker, “The Florida Project”

Benny and Josh Safdie,...

Oh Lucy, starring Josh Hartnett, was a highlight of the Raindance Film Festival. Here's our review...

The stifling loneliness of city life is not an unexplored topic. A largely modern problem for the developed world we’re only really able to get to grips with through art and film and music, the isolated feeling of being alone in a crowd is a good narrative jumping off point precisely because everyone in the audience has likely experienced it at one point or another.

But Oh Lucy!, an independent Japanese production from debut feature writer and director Atsuko Hirayanagi, tackles the familiar subject matter better than most, combining pathos, comedy and a bunch of great performances to create something truly special and ultimately moving.

Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima) is a middle-aged office worker living a lonely life in Tokyo. When her niece Mika (Shioli Katsuna) asks her aunt to take over English classes she’s paid for,...

Feature film debut from Atsuko Hirayanagi, which stars a rueful Josh Hartnett as the teacher, doesn’t quite overcome its short-film origins

Travel broadens the mind, of course, but also carries attendant risks. Sudden exposure to fresh cultures, new experiences can leave the tourist feeling windblown and confused, pitching from the initial giddy euphoria towards a full-blown nervous collapse; a danger to themselves and those in the immediate vicinity – particularly if the vicinity is a high cliff on the Pacific coast. Such is the fate of wonky Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima), the lost wanderer at the heart of Atsuko Hirayanagi’s similarly skittish Oh Lucy!. Setsuko hugs the film and the film hugs her back. And together they inch towards the cliff edge.

Continue reading...

Exclusive: After premiering her short Oh Lucy! three years ago at Cannes winning the Cinefoundation Selection, Japanese director Atsuko Hirayanagi is back on the Croisette with the feature-length version of the off-beat romantic comedy, premiering in Critics Week this morning. Oh Lucy! tells the story of shy middle-aged office worker Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima). In order to change-up her life, she enrolls in an English class at a Tokyo language center, where she meets a…...

The shifting sands of cultural identity are the evocative subject of Oh Lucy!, Japanese filmmaker Atsuko Hirayanagi’s moving but blackly hilarious debut feature, premiering in Cannes Critics’ Week on May 23.

The film centers on the late-life reawakening of Setsuko (played by Shinobu Terajima), an unmarried, middle-aged Japanese woman who lives alone in a tiny apartment in Tokyo and works as a conventional “office lady” within the dreary confines of corporate Japan. Usually quiet and inward, Setsuko’s life is abruptly thrown in a new direction when she’s compelled by her niece to take an English lesson at a quirky Tokyo...

The Cannes Film Festival generates more attention and excitement than any other film festival in the world, but each year is an unpredictable journey. The Official Selection, alongside the sidebars of Directors Fortnight and Critics Week, offer up a tightly-curated into a range of international cinema from both familiar sources and surprising newcomers. This year’s edition is a reliable combination of top-tier directors whose work will be shown at Cannes until the end of time, notable filmmakers who usually deliver something worthwhile, and unproven quantities with a lot of potential.

Read More: 17 Shocks and Surprises from the 2017 Cannes Lineup, From ‘Twin Peaks’ to Netflix and Vr

In order to work through all of these different possibilities, we’ve broken down our list of anticipated Cannes titles into three categories: A-list auteurs, Discoveries and Safe Bets. Every day of Cannes will bring new updates on the latest films, some of...

Exclusive: Off-beat romantic comedy set to premiere in Cannes Critics’ Week.

Paris-based Elle Driver has snapped up international sales on Atsuko Hirayanagi’s off-beat comedy romance Oh Lucy! ahead of its premiere in Cannes Critics’ Week.

Top Japanese actress Shinobu Terajima stars as Setsuko, a lonely, chain-smoking office worker in Tokyo, who brings fresh meaning to her life when she starts taking English lessons, dons a blond wig and adopts a new American persona called Lucy.

In the process, she also falls for her American English teacher played by Josh Hartnett. When he suddenly disappears, she teams up with her sister to track him down in a journey that will take them to some of the sleazier parts of outer Los Angeles.

The feature builds on Hirayanagi’s short film of the same name which premiered in Cannes in 2014, after winning the second prize in the festival’s Cinéfondation Selection initiative focused on shorts and medium-length works from...

Exclusive: Adam McKay and Will Ferrell are executive producing the feature adaptation of Atsuko Hirayanagi’s short film, which stars Shinobu Terajima and Josh Hartnett.

Shinobu Terajima and Josh Hartnett are heading the cast of Us-Japan co-production Oh Lucy!, which marks the feature debut of Japanese director Atsuko Hirayanagi.

A feature-length version of Hirayanagi’s short film, also titled Oh Lucy!, the film is produced by the Us’ Matchgirl Pictures, Gloria Sanchez Productions and Meridian Content.

The comedy drama tells the story of a lonely, chain-smoking office lady in Tokyo (Terajima) who falls for her teacher (Hartnett) when she decides to take English lessons. When her teacher disappears, she sets out on a journey to find him that takes her to Southern California.

Producers on the film include Yukie Kito (Tokyo Sonata), Jessica Elbaum (Welcome To Me), Hirayangi and Han West (Lemon), while Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, Meileen Choo and Razmig Hovaghimian are on board as executive...