‘Drive My Car’ Director Hamaguchi Ryusuke on the Evolution of His New Film ‘Evil Does Not Exist’: ‘I Worked With a Different Mindset’

Gareth Edwards directed his first movie, the 2010 indie “Monsters,” it could scarcely have been a more DIY endeavor. He had less than $500,000 to tell an intimate story about two Americans contending with giant aliens rampaging through Mexico, so his crew consisted of just his actors (Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able), a sound tech, a line producer, a translator and a driver.

Taylor Swift will be releasing her upcoming album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at the end of October and fans are eagerly awaiting news about the songs being released from her vault.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events.

Unassuming Japanese master Ryusuke Hamaguchi was jolted into the dehumanizing glare of the Oscar machine after “Drive My Car” became an unexpected cause célèbre a few years ago. That generational masterpiece saw him ascend to the pinnacle of instant and unanimous global adoration and forged a salivating fanbase eagerly anticipating his subsequent work.

Pete Doherty documentary Stranger In My Own Skin have been revealed. Watch full trailer for the film above.Previously announced as debuting at Zurich Film Festival, Peter Doherty — Stranger In My Own Skin is directed by the Libertines and Babyshambles singer’s wife Katia deVidas, who also plays in his other solo outfit band The Puta Madres.Now, it has been announced that the film will hit cinemas from November 9, 2023 – with screenings taking place in the UK, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Canada, Ireland and Austria.A synopsis describes the feature-length documentary as “following English punk singer-songwriter and Libertines’ legendary frontman, Peter Doherty, as he plunges into the depths of addiction at the very height of his popularity.“Over a period of 10 years, the artist was intimately filmed by director-musician Katia deVidas who shot more than 200 hours of exclusive footage.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Japan rugby union team on Sunday thrashed tournament newcomers Chile 42-12 on the first weekend of the freshly kicked-off Rugby World Cup. But in 2015, Japan were the underdogs and yet pulled off a surprise result against rugby titans South Africa. In the first ever match between the two nations Japan won 34-32, due to an 80th minute try. “The Brighton Miracle,” a docu-drama capturing and re-constructing that shock match, has been picked up by Blue Sky Media.

The Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion has been given to a winner!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Vogter,” a psychological thriller directed by Gustav Möller, whose previous film “The Guilty” won the Audience Award at Sundance, has been pre-sold by Les Films du Losange to multiple territories. “Vogter,” which was just completed and is now in post, has been picked up for Germany, Austria, Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Spain (La Aventura), Italy (Movies Inspired), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (Cineart), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris) and Hungary (Vertigo). Les Films du Losange has closed these deals since unveiling the project at Cannes and is negotiating further sales in other key territories.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kim Jee-woon’s black comedy “Cobweb,” which debuted this year at Cannes, is set for a U.S. theatrical release in early 2024.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired U.S. rights to Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb, starring Song Kang-ho, which had its world premiere Out Of Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan International Film Festival put aside many of its recent internal and local political problems to Tuesday unveil a large selection ranging from bleeding edge art titles to international festival favorites. “The difficult times are not behind us, but hard work has made this year’s festival better than ever,” said programmer and interim festival chief Nam Dong-chul, speaking at an online press conference. International guests expected to attend the festival include Luc Besson, Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, Japanese directors Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Korean Americans Justin Chon (“Gook”) and Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”). Hong Kong-based superstar Chow Yun-fat has been named as Busan’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year and will be in person to receive the award.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest, Evil Does Not Exist, received a 7-minute, 50-second ovation at its Venice Film Festival world premiere on the Lido on Monday. The applause for the director of last year’s Best International Feature Oscar winner Drive My Car only ended when Hamaguchi and his team got up to leave.

When Venice head Alberto Barbera announced his competition lineup in July, he confessed that he and his selection team were surprised to see one submission in their database: a feature project by Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. 

Shinrin-yoku, which translates as “forest-bathing,” was a Japanese invention of the 1980s: a meditative therapy that connects burnt-out urbanites with the healing power of nature. Evil Does Not Exist, the latest film from the celebrated director of Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi – and a contender for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival — opens with a long series of scenes of trees that are so serenely paced and beautifully scored that they leave you feeling as if you have been forest-bathing for real. 

The Great British Bake Off will scrap its national-themed challenge weeks in the new series after viewers slammed these rounds in recent years.

Break out your scarves, kids, a version of the award-winning play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child may be coming to a school near you.

Legendary musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto died in March 2023 of cancer at the age of 71 and much of the world mourned. While perhaps not the most famous musician/composer on earth, the Japanese musician was a musical icon nonetheless.

“One Piece” creator Eiichiro Oda was very protective when working on the live-action series.

One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda wasn’t always on board for a live-action adaptation of his long-running manga.

Mitski has announced listening parties for her upcoming LP ‘The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We’, along with film screenings.The music and film double features will occur next week on Thursday, September 7. These events will be presented in movie theatres in eight international cities, including Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Nashville, Sydney, and New York — plus one planetarium in Tokyo, Japan — with the US events co-presented by Spotify.Fans will be able to gather together in an intimate setting for an early preview of ‘The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We’ in its entirety.