PRESS CONFERENCE
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Film director & Hitoshi Omika, Actor
13:00-14:00 Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Language: The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English interpretation)
Oscar-winning Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi on Saturday earned a permanent place in the cinematic pantheon with his Grand Jury Prize for "Evil Does Not Exist" (Aku wa Sonzai Shinai) at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. With this latest award, Hamaguchi became the first Japanese filmmaker since the legendary Akira Kurosawa to win prizes at the world's top three film festivals — in Venice, Berlin and Cannes — as well as at the Academy Awards in the United States.
Hamaguchi, who received the Oscar in 2022 for "Drive My Car," won the runner-up prize at Venice, as well as a Fipresci International Film Critics Award for his new work, a quietly powerful eco-fable highlighting the encroachment of capitalism in a rural area not far from Tokyo. Its enigmatic ending has already spawned extensive debate, ensuring that it will be, as Variety put it, "one of the major arthouse conversation pieces of the next year."
The last time a Japanese filmmaker won an award at Venice was in 2020, when Kiyoshi Kurosawa was honored with a Silver Lion for Best Director for "Wife of a Spy." Hamaguchi cowrote the script for that film with Kurosawa, his mentor at Tokyo University of the Arts.
"Evil Does Not Exist" began as a collaboration between Hamaguchi and acclaimed musician Eiko Ishibashi, who wrote the score for "Drive My Car." The composer had requested a silent film that could accompany a live soundtrack she was planning to perform. Eventually, Hamaguchi created two films from the footage he shot, with the silent "Gift" set to premiere at Film Fest Gent in October.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi first received international attention for "Passion," his 2008 his master's degree graduate work from Tokyo University of Arts, which premiered at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. In 2015, his "Happy Hour" premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, winning an ensemble Best Actress Award. In 2021, "Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy" won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale, while "Drive My Car" won the Screenplay Prize and three independent prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2022, "Drive My Car" received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.
Hitoshi Omika, who stars in "Evil Does Not Exist" as the taciturn Takumi, a local jack-of-all-trades and single father of a young daughter, graduated from Kuwasawa Design School. He has primarily worked as an assistant director for such films as Tatsushi Omori's "Every Day a Good Day," Edmund Yeo's "Moonlight Shadow" and Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy." He recently completed his first short film, "Father and Father" (Gihu Yohu).
How to attend:
Please register at front@fccj.or.jp with your name, the name of your media outlet, and FCCJ membership number. Due to space restrictions attendance will be limited. Doors open 15 minutes before the event. Please sign in, giving your name and contact details at the reception, and have your temperature taken before proceeding.
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Members watching the event online can submit questions for the speakers in advance using this submission form.
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Professional Activities Committee