Winners of the Osaka Cinema Festival 2018

Individual Awards
Best Leading Actor: Suda Masaki (Hibana / Aa, Kouya / Teiichi no Kuni) / Kiritani Kenta (Hibana / Vigilante)

Best Leading Actress: Aoi Yu (Kanojo ga sono na wo shiranai toritachi)

Best Supporting Actor: Yusuke Santa Maria (Aa, Kouya)

Best Supporting Actress: Tanaka Rena (Osanako warera ni umare)

Best Male Newcomer: Kitamura Takumi (Kimi no suizou wo tabetai)

Best Female Newcomer: Ishibashi Shizuka (Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da)

The Best 10 & Worst 10 Japanese movies in 2017 as chosen by movie magazine "Eiga Geijutsu"

Best 10 Japanese movies in 2017
1) Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da
2) Osanako warera ni umare
3) Bangkok Nites
4) Kanojo no jinsei wa machigai janai / Aa, Kouya
6) Zen to Hone
7) Okuda Tamio ni naritai Boy to deau otoko subete kuruwaseru Girl / Yochou Sanposuru Shinryakusha Gekijouban / Ernesto
10) Tsuki to Kaminari

Worst 10 Japanese movies in 2017
1) Sandome no Satsuji
2) Sekigahara / Aa, Kouya
4) Kanojo no jinsei wa machigai janai
5) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi
6) Ernesto / Utsukushii Hoshi
8) Poncho ni yoake no kaze haramasete / Tsuioku
10) Vigilante

Source: Natalie

First-day-screening event of new movie "Ernesto"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Ernesto" was held at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku on 7 October which was attended by the director Sakamoto Junji and cast members Odagiri Jo and Nagayama Kento. The movie which was released a day earlier, consists of the Cuba and Hiroshima arcs and features Odagiri as the Bolivian-Japanese doctor Ernesto Freddy Maemura who fought alongside with revolutionist Che Guevara and died at the young age of 25.

Screening event of new movie "Ernesto"

The screening event of new movie "Ernesto" jointly produced by Japan and Cuba was held at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku on 13 September which was attended by the director Sakamoto Junji and the lead actor Odagiri Jo. The movie features Odagiri as the Bolivian-Japanese doctor Ernesto Freddy Maemura who fought alongside with revolutionist Che Guevara and died at the young age of 25. As the entire movie is in Spanish, Odagiri spent 6 months to learn the language and had to reduce his weight by 12kg for the filming. This being his 14th movie shot overseas, Odagiri revealed that he took on the role precisely because it was tough and something which he had never attempted before.

Odagiri commented that when he first heard about this movie from the director, he was very eager to take on the role and said that he wanted to step out of his comfort zone and take on a challenge since he has been an actor for 20 years. In the film industry of Japan today, he felt that making this type of movie felt like a revolution to him and he was filled with the strong desire to overcome the odds.

In preparation for the movie, Sakamoto went to see Maemura's classmates and family to gather information about the man himself and why he decided to take up arms even though he wanted to help people. He described Maemura as someone who was quiet but had strong views on what he could and could not tolerate and could interact with people who had opposing views. As such, he thought of Odagiri immediately after hearing about Maemura and approached his drinking buddy to take part in this project. While preparing for the movie, Odagiri made a lot of preparations such as learning Spanish until he was so good at it that the director felt that Odagiri had transformed into Maemura the moment when he first spoke during the filming. Although the director was inspired to learn Spanish as a result of Odagiri, he gave up halfway so couldn't understand what Odagiri was saying during the filming.

The movie will be shown in cinemas from 6 October.

Sources: Nikkansports / Yomiuri Hochi / Sanspo / Eiga.com

Odagiri Jo stars in new movie "Ernesto" to be shown next autumn

Odagiri Jo will be appearing in the new movie "Ernesto" directed by Sakamoto Junji which is due to be shown in cinemas next autumn. The movie which is a collaboration by Japan and Cuba for the first time in 48 years, features Odagiri as the Bolivian-Japanese doctor Ernesto Freddy Maemura who fought alongside with revolutionist Che Guevara and died at the young age of 25. As the entire movie is in Spanish, Odagiri spent 6 months to learn the language and had to reduce his weight by 12kg for the filming. This being his 14th movie shot overseas, Odagiri revealed that he took on the role precisely because it was tough and something which he had never attempted before.

Odagiri had to fly more than 15 hours over 12,500km in order to get to Cuba's capital Havana for the filming. On the set, instructions were all in Spanish. Although the filming was to start from 3 September, Odagiri flew to Havana ahead of schedule on 15 August so as to get used to the environment. Prior to the filming, he had to keep his hair long for three months and not cut his nails for two months so as to look like a revolutionist. Subsequently, as the filming moved on to the scenes featuring his character's younger days, he had to eat a lot of sweet stuff to regain the weight he lost.

Source: Sanspo