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“Good Luck” began as a short film, part of the Beppu Short Film Project created to promote the city and Oita Prefecture. Eventually, however, Shin Adachi, best known as the writer of “100 Yen Love”, expanded it into a feature by adding a rather quirky meta layer to the narrative.

Good Luck is screening in Far East FIlm Festival

Taro Yoshiyama is an indie filmmaker who has recently completed a film about his girlfriend and sponsor, Yuki, which has received an honorable mention at the Beppu Film Festival. Despite his reluctance to attend the screening, Yuki convinces him to go. During the event, however, the festival’s director and programmer publicly criticizes him, essentially stating that she invited him only out of curiosity about the lack of direction in his movie. Devastated, Taro begins wandering the area, where he is repeatedly approached by a strangely energetic girl named Miki, who...

Based on his own, autobiographical novel “Chibusa ni Ka”, Shin Adachi’s “A Beloved Wife” is an amalgam of genres that paints a rather realistic portrait of modern relationships, although somewhat exaggerated for comedic reasons.

“A Beloved Wife” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival 2020

Gota, much like Adachi after the success of “100 Yen Love” is a script-writer that had a success in the past, but now does not seem to get any break. An adaptation of a book he has written has not been picked up for years, and no new scripts come his way. This failure of his has put a rather significant toll on his wife, Chika, who is the sole earner of their household. Chika is rather frustrated due to his inability to earn and does not lose any chance to grind him about the fact, with her nagging being almost constant, to the frustration of their little daughter,...

The festival will play 46 features from eight Asian countries.

Udine’s Far East Film Festival (Feff) has revealed a lineup of 46 features including four world premieres, for the online-only edition of the event that will run from June 26 until July 4.

It will open with the international premiere of Lee Hae-jun and Kim Byung-seo’s disaster action film Ashfall, available to viewers in Europe only.

The film was a blockbuster hit in South Korea over Christmas, grossing almost $60m (£47.9m) by the end of January.

The world premieres are Ning Yuanyuan’s Chinese title An Insignificant Affair; Daigo Matsui’s Japanese...

We’ve all seen couples like Gota and Chika Yanagida — some of us may even be in one. In writer-director Shin Adachi’s “A Beloved Wife,” the Yanagidas bicker constantly, turning their near-constant state of marital conflict into a kind of public performance, sucking friends and strangers alike into the typhoon of their discomfort. Are they really so unhappy, or is this all some kind of routine, a combative sort of foreplay before a marathon bout of make-up sex?

Only Gota and Chika can be sure, although one thing is certain: It can be exhausting to witness such a dynamic in real life, whereas Adachi’s autobiographical satire never wears out its welcome, counting on the likability of its cast to overcome behavior most of us couldn’t stand in real life. As the semi-ironic title suggests, “A Beloved Wife” is simultaneously tough and affectionate with both parties, amounting to...

“Uncle,” Danish director Frelle Petersen’s drama about a young woman’s life on a small farm with her disabled uncle, was awarded the Tokyo Grand Prix at the closing ceremony Tuesday of the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival. Shot in rural Denmark with real-life farmer Peter Hansen Tygesen playing the title role, the film had its world premiere in the Japanese capital.

Winner of the second-place Special Jury Prize was “Atlantis,” Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s near-future drama.

Iran’s Saeed Roustaee was named Best Director for his thriller “6.5.” Navid Mohammadzadeh’s performance in the film earned him the Best Actor trophy.

The Best Actress award went to Nadia Tereszhiewicz for her performance in Dominik Moll’s “Only the Animals.” The film also scooped the Audience Award.

The Best Screenplay prize went to Shin Adachi’s “A Beloved Wife,” one of two Japanese films in the competition, while Chinese...

Winners in the International Competition also included Atlantis, Just 6.5, Only The Animals and Chaogtu With Sarula.

Danish filmmaker Frelle Petersen’s Uncle won the Tokyo Grand Prix Award at the close of the Tokyo International Film Festival (November 5), while Summer Knight, directed by China’s You Xing, took best film in the Asian Future section.

Set in rural Denmark, Uncle follows a girl caring for her disabled uncle who dreams of becoming a veterinarian and faces a heart-breaking choice. Summer Knight is also a coming-of-age story, set in China in the summer of 1997, about two boys attempting to recover a stolen bicycle.

Competition to screen 14 titles including the world premieres of Japanese films Tezuka’s Barbara and A Beloved Wife.

Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) has announced the full line-up for its 32nd edition, including the 14 titles selected for its International Competition.

In addition to previously announced Japanese titles Tezuka’s Barbara from Macoto Tezka and Shin Adachi’s A Beloved Wife, the competition will screen five other world premieres including Chinese director Wang Rui’s Chaogtu With Sarula, Food For A Funeral from Turkey’s Reis Celik and Uncle from Danish director Frelle Petersen.

Asia premieres in this section include Jayro...

The Tokyo International Film Festival will this year give over most of its competition section to films from outside East Asia. This contrasts to previous editions with a strong presence from the region.

The festival, which will hold its 32nd edition next month, announced its lineup Thursday. Of the 14 announced films for competition, only two – Wang Rui’s “Chaogtu With Sarula” (China) and Paul Soriano’s ”Mananita” (Philippines) – are from East Asia.

Korean films are noticeably absent this year, a situation that may reflect the acute political tensions between Tokyo and Seoul.

Others in the competition are Valentyn Vasyanovych’s “Atlantis” and Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s “Disco,” which both screened at Toronto. The competition also includes Saeid Rustai’s “Just 6.5,” Jayro Bustamante’s “La Llorona,” Nunzia De Stefano’s “Nevia” and Dominik Moll’s “Only the Animals,” which were all pickups from Venice.

The two Japanese films in the competition...

Colette director Wash Westmoreland will head this year’s BFI London Film Festival (Lff) main jury. He will be joined by Game Of Thrones actress Lena Headey, Egyptian writer and producer Mohamed Hefzy, I, Daniel Blake actress Hayley Squires, director Sudabeh Mortezai (whose Joy won last year’s Lff Competition) and magazine editor Jane Crowther. The Lff First Feature Competition jury will be led by Jessica Hausner, whose Little Joe screens at this year’s fest. Joining her are filmmaker Shola Amoo, whose The Last Tree was at Sundance this year, playwright Theresa Ikoko, and Lilting director Hong Khaou. The festival’s Documentary Competition will be overseen by Strong Island director Yance Ford, with outgoing DocLisboa head Cintia Gil, soon to take over at Sheffield Doc/Fest, and Skate Kitchen producer Julia Nottingham. Finally, the short film jury consists of filmmakers Amrou Al-Kadhi and Mark Jenkin, actor Alex Lawther, and actress and writer Marli Siu.

Seven world premieres will be among the pics competing in the main competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday.

Fourteen films, reduced from the 16 of recent years, will compete for the Grand Prix, including Advantages of Travelling by Train from Spain's Aritz Moreno, Norway's Disco, Turkey's Food for a Funeral and Only the Animals from France's Dominik Moll.

Japan will be represented by two movies, as has been the recent custom at the fest: Shin Adachi's A Beloved Wife and Macoto Tezka's Tezuka's Barbara, based on the book by the director's father, legendary manga and ...

Seven world premieres will be among the pics competing in the main competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday.

Fourteen films, reduced from the 16 of recent years, will compete for the Grand Prix, including Advantages of Travelling by Train from Spain's Aritz Moreno, Norway's Disco, Turkey's Food for a Funeral and Only the Animals from France's Dominik Moll.

Japan will be represented by two movies, as has been the recent custom at the fest: Shin Adachi's A Beloved Wife and Macoto Tezka's Tezuka's Barbara, based on the book by the director's father, legendary manga and ...

Two Japanese films, “Tezuka’s Barbara” and “A Beloved Wife” have been selected for the main competition section of next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival.

The festival will reveal the remainder of the competition and the bulk of its other selections later this month. To date the Japanese festival has only revealed its opening film a gala screening of Japanese film “Talking The Pictures,” directed by Masayuki Suo, and Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” as its closing event.

“Barbara” is an adult-oriented fantasy tale, directed by Makoto Tezka who adapts his father Osamu Tezka’s famous novel, itself a reimagining of “The Tales of Hoffmann.” The story deals with the erotic and bizarre experiences of a novelist whose life is turned upside down by a mysterious girl named Barbara, and touches on taboos including forbidden love, eroticism, scandal and the occult.

Tokyo festival selector Yoshi Yatabe called it: “extremely luxurious and fortunate filmmaking,...

Tezuka's Barbara and A Beloved Wife are the first two competition titles for this year's Tokyo International Film Festival.

A Beloved Wife by Shin Adachi is a semiautobiographical tale by the director about a scriptwriter who is struggling in both his career and his marriage. Adachi also wrote 100 Yen Love, which was selected as Japan's entry for the foreign language Oscar at the 88th Academy Awards.

Adachi said of the couple in the film, "Without giving up the messiness of human relationships, they persistently search for happiness; I wanted to portray that humor and vitality in the film. And because ...

Tezuka's Barbara and A Beloved Wife are the first two competition titles for this year's Tokyo International Film Festival.

A Beloved Wife by Shin Adachi is a semiautobiographical tale by the director about a scriptwriter who is struggling in both his career and his marriage. Adachi also wrote 100 Yen Love, which was selected as Japan's entry for the foreign language Oscar at the 88th Academy Awards.

Adachi said of the couple in the film, "Without giving up the messiness of human relationships, they persistently search for happiness; I wanted to portray that humor and vitality in the film. And because ...

“100 yen, 100 yen, your whole life for 100 yen…”

Even though it may be a bit of a cliche, there is no denying a time of need may provide the foundation for a great story. After all, at the beginning of many stories a character needs to escape from dire circumstances in order to achieve something in the world, to fulfill a dream or to fight odds which have seemed insurmountable at first. Masaharu Take’s “100 Yen Love” does not necessarily tell a success story, but one about fighting, about challenging the most dangerous enemy one can imagine: yourself.

For Japanese director Masaharu Take the beginning of the 2010s marked quite a low point in his career, which had already almost two decades by that time. Due to the economic crisis, he tells the South China Morning Post, he found himself without a job like so many of his colleagues in the industry.

The ceremony took place in the Grand Prince Hotel on the 4th of March and the winners were:

Best Picture: Our Little Sister (Hirokazu Koreeda)

Best Animated Film: The Boy and The beast (Mamoru Hosoda)

Best Director: Hirokazu Koreeda (Our Little Sister)

Best Actor: Kazunari Ninomiiya (Living with my Mother)

Best Actress: Sakura Ando (100 Yen Love)

Best Supporting Actor: Masahiro Motoki (The Emperor in August, Japan’s Longest Stay)

Best Supporting Actress: Haru Kuroki (Living with my Mother) Best Screenplay: Shin Adachi (100 Yen Love)

Best Cinematography: Mikiya Takimoto (Our Little Sister)

Best Lighting Direction: Norikiyo Fujii (Our Little Sister)

Best Music: Sakanaction (Bakuman)

Best Art Direction: Hidefumi Hanatani (125 Years Memory)

Best Sound Recording: Nobuhiko Matsukage (125 Years Memory)

Best Film Editing: Yasuyuki Ozeki (Bakuman)

Best Foreign Language Film: American Sniper

Newcomer of the Year: Kasumi Arimura (Flying Colors), Tao Tsuchiya (Orange), Ryosuke Yamada, (Assassination Classroom), Yojiro Noda (Pieta in the Toilet...

The award ceremony was held on February 7th in the Yokohama Kannai Hall and the winners were:

Best Film: Our Little Sister (Hirokazu Koreeda)

Best Director: Hirokazu Koreeda (Our Little Sister) Ryosuke Hashiguchi (Three stories of Love)

Yoshimitsu Morita Memorial Best New Director: Daishi Matsunaga(Pieta in the Toilet)

Best Screenplay: Shin Adachi (100 Yen Love, Obon Brothers)

Best Cinematographer: Mikiya Takemoto (Our Little Sister)

Best Actor: Masatoshi Nagase (Sweet Red Bean Paste) Kiyohiko Shibukawa (Obon Brothers, Areno)

Best Actress: Haruka Ayase (Our Little Sister)

Best Supporting Actor: Ken Mitsuishi (Obon Brothers, Three stories of Love)

Best Supporting Actress: Aoba Kawai (Obon Brothers, Kabukicho Love Hotel)

Best New Talent:Suzu Hirose (Our Little Sister) Hana Sugisaki (Pieta in the Toilet, The Pearls of the Stone Man) Ryoko Fujino (Solomon’s Perjury)

Special Jury Prize: The cast and staff of Bakuman

Special Grand Prize: Kirin Kiki

Top Ten Movies:

1. Our Little Sister...

100 Yen Love

Written by Shin Adachi

Directed by Masaharu Take

Japan, 2014

In some ways, the Japanese director Masaharu Take’s 100 Yen Love feels about as old-hat as the 12/8, bluesy guitar music which makes up the bulk of the film’s score: it’s yet another boxing drama about an outcast who finds herself in the ring. There’s nothing in the story we haven’t heard before, and, like the music, its willingness to rehash cliches makes it risk self-parody. But conveying art through established traditions can have a certain nostalgic charm, and both the music and the film it provides the soundtrack for play off tropes to create a crowd-pleaser which oozes appeal.

A large part of that appeal comes from Sakura Ando, who gives a captivating performance as Ichiko, a 32 year-old virgin who lives with her parents and gets into violent fights with her recently divorced sister. She...