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The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has unveiled the ten-title official selection for its Next Wave Film Festival geared towards young filmmakers and audiences aged between 14 and 24.

The festival will run April 10-13 at TIFF’s Lightbox venue in Toronto.

Next Wave’s four Canadian premieres include Brides, the UK drama directed by Nadia Falls, which screened in the world cinema dramatic section at this year’s Sundance festival.

North American premieres in the official selection include US comedy-drama Pools, from writer-director Sam Hayes.

The line-up’s international premiere is US documentary Rape Play, directed by Gabriella Mykal.

Other events...

The 75th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place between 13 and 23 February 2025. It was the first edition of the highly political festival in which the artistic director was Tricia Tuttle, American film journalist, festival programmer, and curator. Both the general festival program and its Asian part offered diversity this year – from documentaries, such as “The Sense of Violence” by Kim Mooyoung, independent movies such as “A Story about Fire” by Li Wenyu, to an action thriller such as “The Old Woman with the Knife” by Min Kyu-dong. However, despite the high-quality selection of Asian films, none of them turned out to be a masterpiece.

Among the most important awards films from the region netted, it is worth mentioning that the International Jury chaired by Todd Haynes awarded Huo Meng with the Silver Bear for Best Director for “Living the Land”. What’s more, “Seaside Serendipity” by Satoko Yokohama was awarded...

Satoko Yokohama is a Japanese film director and writer of “The Actor” (2015) and “Ito” (2021), among others. Her 5th feature, “Seaside Serendipity”, was awarded the Special Mention of the Generation Kplus International Jury at the 75th Berlinale. Daisuke Wada is a film producer from Japan who worked on such movies as “The Women in the Lakes” (2024) by Tatsushi Omori, and “Remain in Twilight” (2021) by Daigo Matsui.

On the occasion of the world premiere of “Seaside Serendipity” at the Berlin International Film Festival, they talk about the process of adapting manga into a movie, the importance of cinematic experience and other topics.

This is your fifth feature film. In each one, you have combined dramatic and comedic elements. How would you describe your style and approach to the creative process?

Satoko Yokohama: The basis of my philosophy is the love for comedy. My goal is to make people laugh and provide them with a joyful experience.

The Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival was awarded to Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud for Dreams (Sex Love) tonight (February 22), the first time this honour has gone to the country.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Dreams (Sex Love) sees Haugerud complete his Sex Love Dreams trilogy with the story of a young woman whose writings about a crush on her French teacher shock her mother and grandmother, causing them to re-examine their own fantasies. M-Appeal is handling sales.

Haugerud said on stage that it was “beyond [his] wildest dreams” to win the Golden Bear and, speaking...

The 2025 Berlin International Film Festival has announced the winners of its Generation Kplus section, the festival’s sidebar dedicated to children’s cinema, with top honors going to The Botanist by Jing Yi and Michel Gondry’s animated feature Maya, Give Me a Title.

Jing Yi’s debut feature The Botanist (Zhi Wu Xue Jia) took home the Grand Prix of the international jury for best film. Set in a remote valley in China’s Xinjiang province, the film follows a young boy named Arsin, who lives with his grandmother and spends his days collecting plant specimens while navigating the slow yet inevitable changes within his secluded community. Featuring a dreamlike atmosphere and striking natural imagery, The Botanist stood out for its immersive portrayal of a world untouched by modernity.

The international jury also gave a special mention to Japanese director Satoko Yokohama’s Umibe é Iku Michi (Seaside Serendipity...

The rainy, cold and grey atmosphere of the Berlin International Film Festival seems perfect for the premiere of such a positive film as “Seaside Serendipity”. This adaptation of a manga by Gin Miyoshi titled “The Road to the Seaside”, written and directed by Satoko Yokohama, was selected for the Generation Kplus section, where it serves as a warming break from the winter. Moreover, Yokohama’s coming-of-age movie was selected for the 6th Setouchi Triennale, which is one of the largest art festivals in Japan.

Seaside Serendipity is sceening at Berlin International Film Festival

Taking place in a seaside town during summer vacation, the story follows teenager Sosuke (Konosuke Harada) as he fills his time with various activities, like hanging out with friends, sculpting a mermaid or helping with interviews for the school newspaper. Additionally, the town in which he lives is a haven for peculiar newcomers, which makes it impossible to experience boredom there.

Tokyo-based Free Stone Productions has acquired international rights to Berlinale 2025 selection “Seaside Serendipity” and cross-cultural drama “Diamonds in the Sand,” with plans to represent both titles at Berlin’s upcoming European Film Market (EFM).

“Seaside Serendipity,” set to premiere in the Generation section at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival, marks the latest feature from Yokohama Satoko. The coming-of-age drama follows a 14-year-old art club member and his friends during their summer vacation as they interact with a diverse community of artists who have relocated to their seaside town. The film stars Konosuke Harada, with a supporting ensemble including Kumiko Aso, Kengo Kora, and Ayame Goriki. The film is scheduled for a summer 2025 release in Japan.

“Diamonds in the Sand,” which premiered at Tokyo Filmex 2024, marks Janus Victoria’s directorial debut, and is a Japan-Malaysia-Philippines co-production. The drama stars acclaimed Japanese actor Lily Franky (“Shoplifters”) as a divorced salaryman confronting solitude in...

The Berlin International Film Festival has announced the full lineup for its 2025 Generation section, which highlights children and youth films.

The Generation 14plus 2025 competition will open with Christy, directed by Brendan Canty. The film portrays a teenage boy from Cork, Ireland, navigating the shadows of his family’s past while seeking a place in the world. In the Generation Kplus section, the opening film The Nature of Invisible Things explores a community’s support for two girls as they grapple with moments of farewell and new beginnings.

The competition lineup features Seaside Serendipity by Satoko Yokohama, an episodic film set on a nameless Japanese island, which blends magical realism with everyday life, questioning the intersection of art and life. Also highlighted is Wrong Husband by Zacharias Kunuk, which transports viewers to a mystical world in the Canadian Arctic, where human and spirit realms collide in a fairy tale about young love.

The Berlin Film Festival has confirmed that Bong Joon Ho’s Robert Pattinson movie “Mickey 17” will play at the festival, in the Berlinale Special section, alongside a new – and equally glitzy — addition, Justin Kurzel‘s series “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” starring Jacob Elordi.

Variety first reported last week that “Mickey 17” would have its international premiere at Berlinale.

“The Narrow Road of the Deep North” will world premiere at the festival. Adapted from Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, the highly anticipated series stars Elordi as a celebrated World War II hero who is haunted by his experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and memories of an affair that took place just before the war.

Also joining the Berlinale Special roster is “The Thing with Feathers,” Dylan Southern’s film starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Richard Boxall. The movie, which will have its European premiere at the fest,...

Sunday, the directorial debut of Uzbekistan’s Shokir Kholikov, has claimed the grand prize at Japan’s Skip City International D-Cinema Festival.

Indian thriller Stolen, which debuted at last year’s Venice, picked up best director for Karan Tejpal and the audience award while Yoshihiko Taniguchi’s Happy Life, which received its world premiere at the festival in Japan, won the special jury prize and Skip City Award.

Scroll down for full list of winners

The awards were presented at a closing ceremony of the 21st edition of Skip City, which ran July 13-21 in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.

The grand...

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 21st edition will be held both at theaters and online as a hybrid festival again.

On Friday, June 7th, we held a press conference to announce the full line-up consisting of the titles of the whole line-up. This year's festival will open with Acting for Beginners, directed by Takeshi Kushida, who won the 2020 Skip City Award for Woman of the Photographs, the nomination...

Academy Award® Qualifying Short Shorts Film Festival (Ssff) & Asia 2023 announced the jury members of Live Action Competition, Non-Fiction Competition and Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony's Xperia. Best short award winners of each Live Action and Non-Fiction competition will be eligible for the nomination of the following year's Academy Award®.

Since last year, in order to take a wider view of international perspectives, the judges in the Asia International category will judge the Non-Fiction Competition, and the judges of the Japan Competition will judge the Smartphone Film Competition supported by Sony's Xperia.

Live Action Competition/International Competition Judges：

34 nominated films among 2282 submissions form 97 countries and regions

Maki Sakai (Actor) / Masato Hagiwara (Actor) / Satoko Yokohama (Film director / Screenwriter)

Live Action Competition/Asia International Competition Judges：

23 nominated films among 593 submissions from 22 countries and regions

Live Action Competition/ Non-Fiction Competition Judges：

13 nominated films among 290 submissions from 59 countries and regions

Adam Torel (Producer...

“Ito”, presented in the Japan Feel-Good section at the Five Flavours Film Festival (where it was also screened during the festival’s closing ceremony), depicts a provincial teenage girl at odds with her surroundings.

Ito is screening at Five Flavours

The eponymous Ito (Ren Komai) has an issue with her father, Koichi (Etsushi Tokoyawa) who is obsessed with history and tradition. The two struggle to formulate any connection. The protagonist’s strife changes after she gets a job in a meido kissa cafe, where patrons are being served by female waitresses dressed as maids. Although the place seems to be catering mostly to male fantasies, it ultimately becomes a safe space for Ito. Within the confines of the café she finds her new, chosen family. Ito is raised only by her father, as the mother has passed away when she was young. This lack, as well as a strained relationship with her grandmother,...

Bizarre rom-coms are nothing new to Japanese cinema, with the country’s film industry often priding itself on its more unorthodox works. The case is no different for “Bare Essence of Life”, Satoko Yokohama’s second feature film that made its debut in 2009. While certainly not dull, a string of narrative hiccups and a challenging protagonist mean that the film is a mixed bag, to say the least.

Bare Essence of Life is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival

Yojin (Kenichi Matsuyama) is an enthusiastic farmer who, following the taped instructions of his late grandfather, grows and sells organic crops with his ageing grandmother (Misako Watanabe). When a mourning teacher, Machiko (Kumiko Aso), comes to Yojin’s small countryside town, the young man is immediately infatuated. Yojin, who in his own words is “not broken, just different”, finds a unique method of dampening his obnoxious social behavior in a bid to win over Machiko.

From a futuristic existential animation about androids to a culturally rich documentary delving into the art of ramen-making, the Japanese Film Festival: Online returns from 14-27 February 2022 with a free streamed Festival featuring the best in Japanese cinema.

The 2022 Festival presented by The Japan Foundation, Sydney will screen 17 films nation-wide for free, including feature films and documentaries. Jff Online 2022 marks the second time The Japan Foundation, Sydney will screen the festival across Australia to enjoy online.

Japanese Film Festival Director, Yurika Sugie said:

“Jff Online invites Australian audiences to celebrate the richness of Japanese cinema from the comfort of their own homes, with an eclectic virtual program traversing the hottest new international film festival award-winners, past Jff favourites and cult hits.”

Japanese Film Festival Programmer, Susan Bui said:

“Enjoy cutting-edge titles from Japan’s finest auteurs in tandem with Japanophiles from 25 countries world-wide as part of this exciting global initiative.

Exclusive: New York’s Japan Society has unveiled the full line-up for the 15th edition of Japan Cuts: Festival Of New Japanese Film, the largest celebration of Japanese cinema in North America.

Running August 20 – September, the hybrid online and in-theater event will welcome 27 features and 12 short films including 32 films available online throughout the U.S. and 14 screenings of eight films on the big screen in Japan Society’s auditorium.

The fest will kick off with the U.S. Premiere of Soushi Matsumoto’s sci-fi coming-of-age story It’s A Summer Film! The title will be presented online and in person.

Also in person will be the fest’s centrepiece presentation, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Venice Film Festival Silver Lion-winning Wife of a Spy, a thriller tale of suspicion, betrayal and love set during WWII. The film’s star, Yu Aoi, will be the recipient of this year’s Cut Above Award from the Japan Society,...

A rare chance to see a small screen work from Palme d’Or-winning (and not only) director Hirokazu Koreeda is available this year at the BFI London Film Festival, with a teaser episode of the drama series “A Day-Off of Kasumi Arimura” (Arimura Kasumi No Satsuky). The 8-episode drama was released in Japan at the beginning of 2020 on Wowwow Channel and it features Kasumi Arimura, a busy and popular actress both in the script and in real life, although the narration is completely fictional. Director Koreeda has directed episode 1 and 3 of the series, while other episodes have different directors.

“A Day-Off of Kasumi Arimura” is screening at the BFI London Film Festival

It’s the onset of winter and seasonal cold is spreading; one of Kasumi’s fellow members of the cast is sick and the next day shooting is cancelled at the last minute. Kasumi has an unexpected day off then,...

Film can be a magical thing that takes you to new and unexplored worlds; but perhaps it’s also fair to say that the majority of films made are run-of-the-mill affairs amounting to little more than promotional videos for the star idol or, sadly, product(s). Rather than being superstars, the cast of such films are simply ordinary people going about their day jobs, but with the job security of a zero hours contract.

The Actor is screening as part of The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

Based on the novel “Actor Takuji Kameoka” by Akito Inui, in her third feature film, Satoko Yokohama explores the world of jobbing actor Takuji Kameoka (Ken Yasuda): a man who acts in both his professional and personal life, but is permanently unsure of his role in the world.

We start in what appears to be a bad TV movie; and that’s exactly what it is.

Highlights include the UK premiere of Finding Dory and the world premiere of the 4K restoration of Highlander [pictured].Scroll down for competition titles

The line-up for the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has been unveiled this morning by artistic director Mark Adams.

This year’s Eiff (June 15-26) will comprise a total 161 features from 46 countries including: 22 world premieres, five international premieres, 17 European premieres and 85 UK premieres.

Highlights include the UK premiere of Disney-Pixar animation Finding Dory, in-person events that include Us indie filmmaker Kevin Smith and Sex & The City actress Kim Cattrall, and the opening and closing gala world premieres of the previously announced Tommy’s Honour and Whisky Galore!.

Old classics will be re-imagined with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra performing the score to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial live at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre and the world premiere of the newly-restored 4K version of Highlander, celebrating its 30th anniversary with star Clancy Brown in attendance.

The...

Competition section features six world premieres including titles from Koji Fukada and Yoshihiro Nakamura.

The 28th Tokyo International Film Festival (October 22-31) has unveiled its line-up with six world premieres in the Competition section, including Turkish director Mustafa Kara’s Cold Of Kalandar, Hao Jie’s My Original Dream and Thai film-maker Kongdej Jaturanrasmee’s Snap.

Also world-premiering in Competition are three Japanese titles: Kohei Oguri’s Foujita, Yoshihiro Nakamura’s The Inerasable and Koji Fukada’s Sayonara – the most local films in the main section since 2004.

The other selections are either Asian or international premieres. The topics of war or refugeeism are a common thread among some films, echoing current day headlines. “We were not conscious about choosing those types, it just happened that way and we noticed afterwards,” said Competition programming director Yoshi Yatabe.

“As much as possible we’d like to cover a wide range of geographical areas and genres,” he said of...

Competition section features six world premieres including titles from Koji Fukada and Yoshihiro Nakamura.

The 28th Tokyo International Film Festival (October 22-31) has unveiled its line-up with six world premieres in the Competition section, including Turkish director Mustafa Kara’s Cold Of Kalandar, Hao Jie’s My Original Dream and Thai film-maker Kongdej Jaturanrasmee’s Snap.

Also world-premiering in Competition are three Japanese titles: Kohei Oguri’s Foujita, Yoshihiro Nakamura’s The Inerasable and Koji Fukada’s Sayonara – the most local films in the main section since 2004.

The other selections are either Asian or international premieres. The topics of war or refugeeism are a common thread among some films, echoing current day headlines. “We were not conscious about choosing those types, it just happened that way and we noticed afterwards,” said Competition programming director Yoshi Yatabe.

“As much as possible we’d like to cover a wide range of geographical areas and genres,” he said of...

WikiLeaks founder to judge films at the 21st Raindance Film Festival; 2013 line-up unveiled.Scroll down for full line-up of films

Julian Assange has joined the jury of the 21st Raindance Film Festival (Sept 25 - Oct 6), a London-based event that celebrates independent film in the UK and around the world.

The appointment is a controversial one. The Australian editor-in-chief and founder of WikiLeaks took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about sexual assault allegations.

It is understood that he fears Sweden would extradite him to the Us, where he believes he is wanted in relation to WikiLeaks’ disclosure of a significant amount of classified Us military and diplomatic documents.

Commenting on Assange’s appointment, Raindance founder Elliot Grove said: “Every year Raindance invites interesting people to join our jury. In the past we have had musicians like Mick Jones, Marky Ramone and [link...

Yojin (Kenichi Matsuyama, best known as L in Death Note series) is a twenty five year old man-child living in a rural town in Aomori with his grandmother. He's not dumb. As he describes himself, his brain is wired differently. He is prone to outbursts and childish behavior. Yojin's daily routine begins with half a dozen alarm clocks and schedule written on the white boards in his room, as he forgets things frequently. He listens to his late grandfather's audiotape instructions on how to grow vegetables and follows through rather unsuccessfully and helps out his grandmother to sell her organic vegetables in town.

Everything changes when Matsuko (beautiful Kumiko Aso) arrives in town from Tokyo. She is a sullen kindergarten teacher who lost her boyfriend in a horrible car accident where his head was decapitated and never recovered. She came to Aomori to consult a medium to see if she can still communicate with him.

Japan Society has posted the full list of films to be screened as part of their Japan Cuts Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema which will take place in NYC from July 1-16, 2010.

Here’s the list. The films marked with an asterisk will be co-presented with the 2010 New York Asian Film Festival.

About Her Brother (2010, North American Premiere, Dir. Yoji Yamada)

Accidental Kidnapper (2009, New York Premiere, Dir. Hideo Sakaki)

Alien vs. Ninja* (2010, World Premiere, Dir. Seiji Chiba)

Bare Essence of Life, aka Ultra Miracle Love Story (2009, New York Premiere, Dir. Satoko Yokohama)

The Blood of Rebirth* (2009, New York Premiere, Dir. Toshiaki Toyoda)

Boys on the Run* (2010, North American Premiere, Dir. Daisuke Miura)

Confessions* (2010, U.S. Premiere, Dir. Tetsuya Nakashima)

Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World (2004, New York Premiere, Dir. Isao Yukisada)

Dear Doctor* (2009, New York Premiere, Dir. Miwa Nishikawa)

Electric Button, aka Moon & Cherry (2004, U.S. Premiere,...