Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs has unveiled four emerging filmmakers for its Film Frontier Global Networking Program, including award-winning director Chie Hayakawa.
Hayakawa, whose acclaimed debut feature Plan 75 premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2022 and is anticipated to make this year’s selection with follow-up Renoir, is among the second cohort of directors chosen for the programme, which provides opportunities for overseas networking to help increase their international exposure.
The selection also comprises Minami Iizuka, an anthropologist and director whose documentary short Long Long Hair – made under the guidance of Bela Tarr – played at last year’s Tokyo; Keisuke Sakuma, whose horror short Rat Tat Tat is part of the recently released horror omnibus NN4444; and Tsubomi Yamashita, whose short Kanoyama played at Venice in 2021.
The four recipients were selected from more than 50 applicants by an external selection committee.
Each filmmaker will have a residency of 15 to 30 days in Paris, New York or South Korea, where they will develop their projects and scripts with mentors from their host institutions.
They will continue to receive feedback after returning to Japan, and eventually submit their projects to film labs, project markets and pitch sessions abroad.
The programme was launched last year to develop the country’s next generation of creators, helping them refine pitches, learn how to give presentations at film markets and provide networking opportunities.
The first cohort, announced during Tokyo International Film Festival last November, included Shingo Ota, Emma Kawawada, Kohki Hasei and Mai Nakanishi.
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