Japan arrived against some headwinds, with nine films selected for this year’s Berlinale. “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” and “Chainsaw Man” are still fresh on the box office records and are about to be honored at the Cannes Film Festival. But the conversation at Monday’s Japan Night wasn’t about past successes or established writers. It was about who and what comes next.
Organized by the Embassy of Japan in Germany in cooperation with the Agency for Cultural Affairs and with the operational cooperation of Unijapan and VIPO, the Japanese film industry gathered to celebrate this year’s Japanese films from the Berlinale selection, as well as hear presentations from four emerging directors and three emerging producers from Japan, each of whom announced their new works and upcoming projects.
Emma Kawawada joined Bunbuku in 2014 and worked as an assistant director on Hirokazu Kore-eda’s films. Her commercial feature film debut My Small Land was invited to the 2022 Berlinale. Kawawada’s new feature “Life is Yours” was selected for the Berlinale Co-Production Market. This film explores the interaction between people and nature. Produced by Toei and Loaded Film.
Hiroki Hasei made his feature debut in 2015 with the street kid story Blanca, which won him the Magic Lantern Award in Venice. His upcoming feature “Kuteran” explores the lives of children of mixed heritage in Okinawa. It has been described as a film with magical realism tendencies, and features non-professional and professional actors. The film, a Japanese-British co-production by IN.2 and Bunbuku, is scheduled to be shot this fall.
Mai Nakanishi has built a portfolio of female-driven, genre-bending short films shot in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. Her debut novel, Child, Uninvited, is in early development and depicts the fractious relationship between a soon-to-be mother and an abandoned child she befriends.
Documentary maker Shingo Ota’s latest work, the queer-focused Numakage Public Pool, won the First Cut+ Works in Progress Award in Karlovy Vary in 2024. Following its world premiere at Dock Edge and its Asian premiere in Busan, the film is scheduled for a theatrical release in Japan this year. Director Ota’s next film is “The Chimney Sweeper”. Dubbed a “creative documentary,” it follows an 85-year-old man who sweeps chimneys and manages five public bathhouses. The film is a French-Japanese co-production by Hydroblast and SaNoSi Productions.
The featured producers are participants in this year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market and VIPO Visitors Program. Multi-hyphenate Akiko Iwase was invited to the Berlinale for the first time as an actor in 2020, and co-starred with Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, Hiroyuki Sanada, and others in “Minamata.” As a producer, she has two projects in development. One is “Rainbow on the Moon,” which explores the theme of assisted dying from the perspective of two sisters who have culturally opposing views on the direction of death. and the historical biopic “Where Compassion Lives.”
Producer Yuna Kamiura left a prolific career on MBS’s late-night drama series to join K2 Pictures last year, pledging to develop diverse stories with an LGBTQ focus and championing female directors. Kamiura is currently developing several projects, including “Human Insect Chronicles,” a film adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s manga to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Osamu Tezuka’s birth. Directed by Ken Ninomiya (Chihuahua) and starring Akira Takaishi (Baby Assassins). “Inside Her,” a lesbian body horror film. “Moon Palace” is a youth group drama directed by Shuichi Okita, director of “Yonosuke Monogatari.”
Producer Keiichiro Sato brings his experience working in line production and international units to his recent genre feature Higuma!!: The Killer Bear and his upcoming feature June 2000, a project about the human effects of system collapse.
Others in attendance are equally passionate about nurturing new talent. Veteran producer Takeshi Moriya (“Midnight Swan”) is laying the foundation for Atmovie Global Track at EFM. Atmovie Global Track is a new festival market-based development and pitching initiative designed to support emerging Japanese creators and producers with their eyes on the world stage. Kazutaka Watanabe, producer of 2025 Venice Horizons Jury Prize winner Lost Land, is one of this year’s Berlinale talents and has used his platform to connect with further international artists who could benefit from new collaboration possibilities and an open palm.
There was an atmosphere of optimism and anticipation at the event. Japan is the country of honor at this year’s Cannes Film Market, and there’s every reason to expect Japan’s hottest filmmakers to be in attendance. New films by directors Kore-eda (“Sheep in the Box,” “Look Back”), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“All of a Sudden”), and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (“Kurojo”) are scheduled to be released. Japan Night at the Berlinale proves that the future is just as bright for the country’s up-and-coming creators.
