Festival
All Of A Sudden
Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Hamaguchi returns to Competition for the first time since 2021’s Drive My Car, which won three awards at Cannes before going on to claim the best international feature Oscar. All Of A Sudden marks his first film shot outside Japan, and follows a woman who runs a struggling nursing home in France and a stage director with terminal cancer. The cast is led by Virginie Efira (Benedetta) and Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine). Produced by Cinéfrance, Office Shirous, Bitters End, Heimatfilm and Tarantula, the film is set for release in Japan on June 19 and in France on August 12.
Contact: Bitters End (Asia); Cinéfrance International (rest of world)
All The Lovers In The Night
Dir. Yukiko Sode
Director Sode’s adaptation of a 2011 novel by Mieko Kawakami centres on a freelance proofreader living in solitude whose life begins to change after meeting a high-school physics teacher. Playing in Un Certain Regard, it stars Yukino Kishii, who won best actress at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2023 for Small, Slow But Steady, and Tadanobu Asano, who won the best supporting actor Golden Globe in 2025 for series Shōgun. Sode is known for Aristocrats, which played at Rotterdam in 2021. Kawakami’s book was the first Japanese novel to be nominated for the American National Book Critics Circle Award.
Contact: Bitters End
Nagi Notes
Dir. Koji Fukada
This drama, set in the rural Japanese town of Nagi, centres on a sculptor living in the shadow of a past love who continues to shape her art, finding welcome distraction in a visit from her former sister-in-law. Takako Matsu and Shizuka Ishibashi lead the cast. Writer/director Fukada graduates to Competition after winning the Un Certain Regard prize in 2016 with Harmonium and playing in Cannes Premiere last year with Love On Trial. Producers include Japan’s Hassuku Labs and France’s Suvivance alongside Momo Film, Star Sands, Nathan Studios and Wonderstruck. A local release is set for September 25.
Contact: mk2 Films
The Samurai And The Prisoner
Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Playing in Cannes Premiere, this adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa’s award-winning 2021 novel Kokurojo is Kurosawa’s first period piece. The 16th-century story centres on samurai Murashige Araki, who must form an alliance with a prisoner after his castle becomes the scene of mysterious crimes. The cast is led by Masahiro Motoki (Departures), Masaki Suda (Cloud) and Munetaka Aoki (Godzilla Minus One). Kurosawa’s previous Cannes trips include 2008’s Tokyo Sonata, 2015’s Journey To The Shore and 2017’s Before We Vanish, all in Un Certain Regard.
Contact: Charades
Sheep In The Box
Dir. Hirokazu Koreeda
Koreeda, who won the Palme d’Or for Shoplifters in 2018, writes and directs this near-future film about a couple who take a humanoid robot into their home after the death of their son. Playing in Competition, it stars Haruka Ayase of Koreeda’s Our Little Sister and comedian Daigo in his first lead role. Fuji Television Network, Gaga, Toho and Aoi Pro produce, and Neon has rights in the US, UK and Australia, having distributed Koreeda’s 2022 feature Broker. Toho has set a May 29 release in Japan. Koreeda is a Cannes regular, winning awards with Like Father, Like Son, Broker, Monster and Nobody Knows.
Contact: Gaga (Asia, North America); Flavien Eripret, Goodfellas (rest of world)
Market
All That Exists (working title)
Dir. Takahisa Zeze
Prolific filmmaker Zeze returns with this thriller about the aftermath of a kidnapping in 1991 and the mysterious life of one of its victims, now a brilliant painter. The film stars Hidetoshi Nishijima of Oscar winner Drive My Car and Suzu Hirose of Our Little Sister and A Pale View Of Hills. It is based on a 2023 novel by Takeshi Shiota, whose Kiba: The Fangs Of Fiction was adapted into a 2021 feature. The director is known for Heaven’s Story, which won the Fipresci prize at the Berlinale in 2011, and Fragments Of The Last Will, which opened Tokyo in 2022. Now in post-production, a local release is scheduled for February 5, 2027.
Contact: Toei
Beasts Clutching At Straws
Dir. Hideo Jojo
This thriller stars Suzuka Oji as a YouTuber who stumbles on a bag filled with ¥100m ($630,000) in cash and a group of greedy strangers who will do anything to get their hands on it. The film is based on a 2011 novel by Keisuke Sone, which was previously adapted into a Korean film of the same name in 2020. Director Jojo is known for Love Nonetheless and On The Edge Of Their Seats, and was Tokyo’s director in focus in 2023. In post-production, Beasts is set for a local release on September 25.
Contact: Toei
The Gate Of Murder
Dir. Ko Kanai
Based on a 2003 novel from bestselling mystery author Keigo Higashino, the film is about a man who begins to wonder if his best friend is actually his worst enemy. It stars Kento Yamazaki — best known for the box-office hit Kingdom films and Netflix series Alice In Borderland — alongside Kohei Matsushita of A Pale View Of Hills. Director Kanai is a TV veteran known for helming series such as Caster and The Travel Nurse. Now in post-production, The Gate Of Murder is set for a local release on February 19, 2027.
Contact: Kadokawa
Part-Time Death Angel
Dir. Mai Sakai
Daigo Nishihata (Doctor X: The Movie) stars as a down-on-his-luck university student who takes a part-time job as a death angel, helping the souls of the departed resolve their lingering regrets and move peacefully into the afterlife. Nishihata co-stars with Riko Fukumoto, known for 2022’s Even If This Love Disappears From The World Tonight. Director Sakai helmed the My Beautiful Man series and film, while screenwriter Kaho Fukuda penned the 2025 hit 366 Days. Part-Time Death Angel is set to open locally this autumn on October 2.
Contact: Gaga
Sana: Play With Me (working title)
Dir. Takashi Shimizu
The latest from horror maestro Shimizu (Ju-on: The Grudge) is the third film featuring the vengeful Sana, whose spirit haunts from beyond the grave via a cursed cassette tape. This time, her potential victims include Shota Sometani (Suzuki=Bakudan) and Suzuka Chinzei of popular girl group Fruits Zipper. A local release is set for July 24. The first Sana film played as the closing title of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2023.
Contact: Shochiku
Sleeping In The Red Earth
Dir. Masakazu Kaneko
Set in 1949, the fourth feature from director Kaneko stars Kisetsu Fujiwara as a self-taught architect who goes on a quest to find the horns of a mythical mountain-dwelling beast. Fujiwara is known for his roles in His and Sasaki In My Mind. Co-starring is Sena Nakajima from this year’s high-school drama The Girl At The End Of The Line. Sleeping In The Red Earth is completed and set for release in March 2027. Kaneko is known for fantasy dramas River Returns and Ring Wandering, which won the top prize at International Film Festival of India in 2021.
Contact: Nikkatsu
Unchained
Dir. Keisuke Yoshida
This film revolves around the struggles of troubled young delinquents in Japan and the adults who strive to help them. It is based on the real-life adolescence of director Yoshida, known for Intolerance and Missing, of which the latter landed Satomi Ishihara a best actress nomination at the Japanese Academy Awards. It stars Wataru Ichinose of hit Netflix sumo wrestler drama series Sanctuary and Kaho of 2024 feature Worlds Apart. A local release is set for June 26.
Contact: Nikkatsu