Three of Japan’s most promising young directors are headed to Berlin to boost the ranks of filmmakers from the country on the global cinema stage. Shinji Araki, Takeshi Kushida and Naoya Kusaba were chosen by a panel of industry experts for the viability of their projects overseas as well as their desire to participate in the Berlinale, which has served as a launchpad for directors such as Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Sho Miyake.
The trio will also be at the European Film Market (EFM), pitching projects to prospective funders and co-producers and building a network of potential future partners. They will later share their experiences with other creators, imparting knowledge that will help “maintain and improve the range of diverse, high-quality Japanese films”, according to the Government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, which spearheads the initiative.
The Berlin programme is one of several new initiatives to increase Japanese creators’ presence on the global stage. The Film Frontier Global Networking Program was established by the Japan Arts Council under the subsidiary aid of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, and launched at Tokyo International Film Festival in November. It is a long-term scheme that looks to help promising directors refine their pitches and gain international networking opportunities.
Among the four directors selected was Emma Kawawada, whose debut My Small Land received the Amnesty International Film Award special mention at the Berlinale in 2022. The Film Frontier initiative includes an overseas residency to develop projects and screenplays, launching later this year. The goal is to establish a sustainable production cycle through helping to develop the skills of Japan’s young creators, and to increase the appeal of Japanese cinema abroad.
Contact: Kaori Ikeda, Unijapan
Find out more: unijapan.org/efm25/
Shinji Araki, director Penalty Loop
Tokyo-born Araki is best known internationally for directing last year’s Penalty Loop, a time-loop drama that played in competition at Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and Fantasia International Film Festival, winning best editing, best score and a bronze audience award at the latter. He made his feature debut with 2020’s dystopian drama The Town Of Headcounts, which screened at festivals including Moscow, Vancouver and Nippon Connection.
Araki hopes to use his time at the EFM to land funding and connect with co-producers for his next project, as well as to perfect his pitch and get people interested in the film. “It’s an exciting experience, and I’m looking forward to some personal growth,” says the director. Araki teases that the concept for his project is “so simple that it’s hard to share details”, which has proved a draw for curious partners.
The filmmaker, who was born in 1970, worked in advertising before deciding to pivot to filmmaking. In 2016, he won multiple awards for his screenplays, including the TV Asahi Scenario Grand Prize and the MBS Radio Drama Grand Prize. Being named the runner-up for the Kinoshita Group New Film Director Award the following year led to the production of The Town Of Headcounts.
After making two features, Araki says he is still learning what it means to direct a film, but he has realised one important thing: “As long as you like the method you’re using, anything goes.”
Takeshi Kushida, director Acting For Beginners
Kushida has gained attention as the director of horror feature My Mother’s Eyes (2023) and trippy drama Acting For Beginners (2024), with the latter title opening Skip City International D-Cinema Festival in Saitama, Japan. His 2020 debut feature Woman Of The Photographs won the top award at the same festival.
Kushida’s latest project, for which he hopes to find co-producers at the EFM, combines ghosts and artificial intelligence (AI) to create “a Japanese horror film that will terrify the world”, according to the director. “For people today, with the proliferation of AI around the world, the fear of something that does not exist gradually increasing its presence is a familiar feeling.”
The director, who was born in Osaka in 1982, began to think about becoming a filmmaker at the age of 18. “I was watching a lot of music videos at the time, and when the directors of those videos started making films, the profession of ‘film director’ felt somehow achievable,” says Kushida. He is dedicated to bringing a new wave of Japanese horror, or J-horror, to audiences at home and abroad.
“When I meet people from around the world at international film festivals, I often hear them say, ‘I love J-horror!’,” he says. “I feel like the generation who grew up watching films like Ringu and Ju-On want a new kind of J-horror, and I want to satisfy that need with my next film.”
Naoya Kusaba, director Yukiko a.k.a.
Nagasaki-born Kusaba most recently directed Yukiko a.k.a., the story of an insecure primary school teacher who turns to hip-hop to express herself. The film premiered last year at International Film Festival of the Province of Buenos Aires and was released in Japan last month.
“Many audience members who approached me at international film festivals told me, ‘Yukiko is me!’,” recalls Kusaba. “I was moved by the fact that even if you depict a small world, as long as there is universality, it can transcend borders and cultures.”
Kusaba, who studied at the Film School of Tokyo and made his debut with the independently produced Super Mikincorinista in 2019, is now working on a project about a historical incident from 16th-century Japan, in which a group of Christian boys travelled to Europe to learn more about the religion, only to find it banned when they returned to their home country eight years later.
“I want to create an energetic work about these characters who, despite various difficulties, lived their lives with a commitment to what they believe in,” says Kusaba. He hopes to use the EFM to gain insight into contemporary filmmaking and find producers who are willing to commit to his project.
Kusaba, who cites influences including Yasujiro Ozu, Jacques Becker, Zhang Yimou, Lee Chang-dong and Xavier Dolan, says he aims to make his next film “resonate with people from all over the world”.
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