Winners of the 37th Nippon Academy Awards 2014

Best Movie: Fune wo Amu
Best Animation Movie: Kaze Tachinu
Best Director: Ishii Yuya (Fune wo Amu)
Best Scriptwriter: Watanabe Kensaku (Fune wo Amu)
Best Leading Actor: Matsuda Ryuhei (Fune wo Amu)
Best Leading Actress: Maki Youko (Sayonara Keikoku)
Best Supporting Actor: Lily Frankie (Soshite Chichi ni naru)
Best Supporting Actress: Maki Youko (Soshite Chichi ni naru)
Best Music: Hisaishi Joe (Kaze Tachinu)
Best Photography: Kasamatsu Norimichi (Yurusarezaru Mono)
Best Lighting: Watanabe Koichi (Yurusarezaru Mono)
Best Artistic Work: Yoshida Takashi (Rikyuu ni Tazuneyo)
Best Sound: Kato Hirokazu (Fune wo Amu)
Best Editing: Fushima Shinichi (Fune wo Amu)
Best Foreign Movie: Les Miserables

Newcomer Award
Kutsuna Shiori (Yuruzarezaru Mono / Tsuya no Yoru / Onnatachi no Monogatari)
Kuroki Haru (Fune wo Amu / Sougen no Isu)
Dan Mitsu (Amai Muchi)
Hamada Kokone (Oshin)
Ayano Go (Yokomichi Yonosuke / Natsu no Owari)
Suda Masaki (Tomogui)
Hoshino Gen (Hakoiri Musuko no Koi / Jigoku de naze warui)
Yoshioka Tatsuki (Shounen H)

Chairman's Special Award
Oshima Nagisa (director)
Takano Etsuko (cinema manager)
Kumagai Hideo (lighting specialist)
Mikuni Rentaro (actor)
Natsuyagi Isao (actor)

Association's Honour Award: Takakura Ken

Popularity Award
Movie: Manatsu no Houteishiki
Actor: Wakabayashi Masayasu (Himawari to Koinu no Nanokakan)

Source: Nippon Academy

First-day-screening of movie "Natsu no Owari"

The first-day-screening of movie "Natsu no Owari" was held on 31 August which was attended by the cast members Mitsushima Hikari, Ayano Go, Kobayashi Kaoru and the director Kumagiri Kazuyoshi. The movie is based on the novel by Setouchi Jakucho which she released under her original name Setouchi Harumi before she became a nun.

Mitsushima plays the role of Tomoko, a woman who has been living with an older writer Shingo (Kobayashi) for a long time despite Shingo being married to someone else. However, when her ex-lover Ryota (Ayano) appears in front of her again, Tomoko's life goes out of control.

The filming of the movie was done primarily in Awajima in Hyogo Prefecture. Mitsushima had told the director that she's a typhoon woman i.e. typhoons always come to where she is and true to her declaration, there were two typhoons which hit the filming location so they had to change some of the scenes' settings to a rainy day instead. Ayano also said that he was so mesmerised by Mitsushima while filming their intimate scenes that he didn't remember much of what happened. He also commented that although the movie may seem a bit difficult to understand, he said that the movie had managed to reorganise things in such a way that it should be clear to viewers. On the other hand, Kobayashi joked about how he suffered back pains after sitting in the chair provided to him during filming breaks and wanted to ask the director if he scrimped on the chair due to budget concerns which led the audience to laugh at this.

Source: Eiga.com

Completion press conference and screening of movie "Natsu no Owari"

The completion press conference and screening of movie "Natsu no Owari" was held on 14 August which was attended by the cast Mitsushima Hikari, Ayano Go and Kobayashi Kaoru who wore yukatas to the event. The movie which will be shown from 31 August, is based on Setouchi Jakucho's novel about a woman caught between two men. Mitsushima commented that although she was worried about playing a woman who is about 10 years older than her current age, she thanked the director for his help. In addition, as Mitsushima's character had to film some scenes of doing colour dyeing, she even went to a specialised school to take lessons for at least three to four times a week over one month. In fact, she likes colour dyeing so much that she commented that going for the classes was the most enjoyable work assignment to date in her acting career.

Source: Sanspo

Here's the trailer of the movie in case you are interested: