2 days ago
Japanese film wins top prize at Locarno Film Festival
Japanese film director Miyake Sho's "Two Seasons, Two Strangers" has won the top prize at the 78th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.
Miyake's film was awarded the Golden Leopard, the top prize among the 17 nominated works. This year's prizewinners were announced on Saturday.
This is the first time in 18 years that a Japanese film has won the top prize at Locarno, after director Kobayashi Masahiro's "The Rebirth" in 2007.
The film stars South Korean actress Shim Eun-kyung, with Japanese actors Tsutsumi Shinichi and Kawai Yuumi also appearing.
It portrays the journey of a screenwriter who is processing what is happening in her life through encounters with strangers.
Miyake said at the award ceremony that, in a world where so many terrible things are happening, he deeply questioned what films could possibly do.
He added that once he began working on this film, he rediscovered his love and trust in cinema, and his love for the world itself.
Also at the festival, director Sora Neo's film "A Very Straight Neck" was awarded Best Auteur Short Film. Sora is the son of the late world-renowned Japanese musician and composer Sakamoto Ryuichi.
