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| yna@yna.co.kr 2026-05-21 09:46:35
SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- Japan has emerged as a strong contender for this year's Palme d'Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, with three Japanese films invited to the competition section. It marks the first time in 25 years that three Japanese entries have competed simultaneously in Cannes' main competition.
As of Wednesday local time, all three films — director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s "Sheep in the Box," Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s "All of a Sudden" and Koji Fukada’s "Nagi Note" — had completed their official screenings as the festival headed into its final stretch.
All three directors have already established strong reputations at major international film festivals, including Cannes, leading many to predict potential awards recognition from the moment their films were announced in the lineup.
Kore-eda, in particular, has been invited to Cannes for the 10th time this year, including eight appearances in the competition section alone.
He won the Jury Prize in 2013 for "Like Father, Like Son" and the Palme d'Or in 2018 for "Shoplifters." More recently, his 2022 film "Broker" earned actor Song Kang-ho the Best Actor award at Cannes, while "Monster" won the screenplay award and the Queer Palm in 2023.
"Sheep in the Box" tells the story of a couple grieving the loss of their young son who adopt a humanoid robot implanted with their son's memories and appearance as a new family member.
The film stars Haruka Ayase, Daigo and Rimu Kuwaki, and is scheduled for release in South Korea on June 10.
Hamaguchi's latest film, "All of a Sudden," has also drawn favorable reviews following its premiere.
The film follows Marie-Lou, a French woman working at a nursing home played by Virginie Efira, and Mari, a Japanese theater director battling cancer portrayed by Tao Okamoto, as the two women develop a bond.
Their extended conversations about care and solidarity reflect Hamaguchi's own reflections on filmmaking.
Speaking at a Cannes press conference on Sunday local time, Hamaguchi said the film contains his thoughts and values regarding filmmaking.
"I realized there are many issues shared between caregiving environments and the film industry," he said.
"There are too many ways in which the film industry is structured without treating actors as human beings," he added, stressing the need for "conscious effort" to make time and space to care for others.
"All of a Sudden," which combines themes of care and solidarity with concerns about the film industry, received a score of 3.1 from Cannes trade publication Screen Daily, the second-highest rating among competition titles released so far this year.
Hamaguchi rose to global prominence after winning the screenplay award at Cannes in 2021 for "Drive My Car," which later won the Academy Award for best international feature film.
He has since collected prizes from all three major international film festivals, including the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2022 for "Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy" and the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2023 for "Evil Does Not Exist."
Fukada's "Nagi Note" tells the story of two women — an artist and an architect haunted by past love — who visit the rural town of Nagi and confront their past losses.
British daily newspaper The Guardian praised the film, saying Fukada transformed what could have become a melodramatic story set in a small provincial Japanese town into a work of "poetic restraint and delicacy."
Although "Nagi Note" marks Fukada's first invitation to Cannes' competition section, the director has longstanding ties with the festival.
He won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section in 2016 for "Harmonium" and was later awarded France's Order of Arts and Letters at the rank of Chevalier.
His films "The Real Thing" (2020) and "Love on Trial" (2025) were also invited to Cannes, where they were introduced to global audiences.
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