Tag - academy-awards

 
 

ACADEMY AWARDS

Hamdan Ballal (center right) with colleagues after winning the Oscar for best documentary feature for "No Other Land" on March 2
WORLD
Mar 26, 2025
Oscar-winning Palestinian director injured in attack by Israeli settlers released after arrest
Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the award-winning "No Other Land," was released from detention on Tuesday.
Shiori Ito is the first Japanese director to have been nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature film. "Black Box Diaries," which tells the story of her quest for justice following her rape in 2015, hasn't been released in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 4, 2025
Can Shiori Ito’s documentary open Japan’s black box?
Concerns about footage in "Black Box Diaries" have stopped its release in Japan. But Shiori Ito's story needs to be brought to people’s attention — in all its harrowing details.
Director Sean Baker (center) poses with the Oscars for best picture, best director, best film editing and best original screenplay for "Anora" as producers Alex Coco and Samantha Quan pose with the Oscar for best picture for "Anora" in the Oscars photo room at the 97th Academy Awards.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 3, 2025
Small-budget sex worker romp 'Anora' triumphs at Oscars
Sean Baker's dark comedy scooped up five awards including best picture at this year's Academy Awards, which was a relatively staid affair compared to previous editions.
Journalist and filmmaker Shiori Ito made the documentary “Black Box Diaries” about her years-long battle to find justice following her sexual assault.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2025
Oscar-nominated documentaries put Japan under the microscope
Shiori Ito’s “Black Box Diaries” and Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s “Instruments of a Beating Heart” both mark firsts in their respective categories.
From left: "Conclave" cast members Sergio Castellitto, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes pose with the awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, in Los Angeles.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 24, 2025
Vatican thriller 'Conclave' wins top prize in SAG Awards upset
"Conclave" surprises with a SAG Award win for best cast, suggesting it may have a real shot at upsetting the Oscars' Best Picture race.
After gaining a record number of Oscar nominations for a foreign-language movie, "Emilia Perez" has become embroiled in scandal linked to past social media posts by star Karla Sofia Gascon.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 7, 2025
Oscars frontrunner 'Emilia Perez' suffers awards season crash
Actor Karla Sofia Gascon has seen her path to glory seriously compromised by her past social media posts about Islam, U.S. anti-racism protests and even the Oscars themselves.
This year's Oscar nominations were unveiled on Thursday, with transgender cartel musical "Emilia Perez" earning 13 Oscar nods and breaking the record for most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language movie.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 23, 2025
'Emilia Perez' tops Oscar nominations in fire-hit Hollywood
Jacques Audiard's Mexico-set musical shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language movie.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
CULTURE / Film / 2024 in Review
Dec 20, 2024
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
International collaborations and indie risk-takers steered the film industry in a fresh direction in 2024.
Japanese creatives, athletes and activists saw their efforts recognized on the world stage in various ways this year. At the Oscars (left) Takashi Yamazaki and his team took a prize for “Godzilla Minus One,” while later in the year Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada (center) took Emmys for their work in “Shogun.” Shohei Ohtani (right) was arguably the biggest Japanese star of the year.
CULTURE / 2024 in Review
Dec 4, 2024
Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024
From Oscars and Emmys to a Nobel Peace Prize, it was a year of awards and triumphs in key cultural fields.
Even with the success of "Crazy Rich Asians" and improvements in on-screen representation, Asian actors still comprise just 18.4% of film roles, which is an improvement compared to 3.4% in 2007.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2024
To win back audiences, put more Asians behind the camera
The movie industry is losing out at a time when it can ill-afford to do so. Betting on Asian talent would help.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2024
The night Godzilla trampled Hollywood
The humanity behind visual effects and animation won in the end, and Japan should be proud.
In the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards, analysts believed the winner for best animated feature to be a toss-up between Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 15, 2024
An agile campaign helped Hayao Miyazaki score another Oscar award
Even the greats can use an assist when it comes to awards season in Hollywood, and Studio Ghibli has no shortage of supporters.
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One,” which won an Academy Award for best visual effects earlier this week, was made for a reported $15 million — a small fraction of the budgets used by its Hollywood competitors.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2024
'Godzilla Minus One' fought the odds and won big at the Oscars
Once mocked, the long-running monster franchise took on Hollywood's behemoths — and won.
The Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima remains an iconic symbol of the destruction of the atomic bomb on that city.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2024
Hiroshima grapples with 'Oppenheimer' Oscars success
While locals would have liked to see more Japanese representation in the film, they are at least happy that some discussion is taking place.
Christopher Nolan poses with the Oscars for best picture and best director for "Oppenheimer," in the Academy Awards press room on Sunday.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2024
The Academy gives Christopher Nolan's masterpiece its highest accolade
It is, in the words of its director, the story of the most important person who ever lived.
Masaki Takahashi, Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya and Tatsuji Nojima celebrated winning the Oscar for best visual effects on the Dolby Theatre stage in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2024
Oscars 2024: A night to remember for Japanese cinema
Filmmaking peers in Hollywood honor the excellence of two Japanese titans: Studio Ghibli and Godzilla
Korean Canadian director, playwright and screenwriter Celine Song walks on the stage to pose for photos after a screening of her film, "Past Lives" in Seoul last week.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024
Oscar-nominated Korean diaspora film follows 'lives we leave behind'
"Past Lives," which marks Celine Song's debut as a director, is one of several recent films that address the Korean diaspora.
Three years ago, Sean Ono Lennon became intrigued by the possibility of expanding the message of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” the 1971 protest song by his parents, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, through a narrative film. The resulting work is the 11-minute film “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” directed by Dave Mullins.
CULTURE
Mar 7, 2024
How Sean Ono Lennon helped his parents send a message
To keep their legacy relevant for a new generation, he worked on the short “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko.” Now it’s up for an Oscar.
When Japanese American makeup artist Kazu Hiro first started experimenting with makeup as a teenager in the 1980s, one face leapt out at him from books and magazines he saw in shops: legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2024
Oscar-nominated makeup genius Kazu Hiro comes full circle with 'Maestro'
Nominated for his fifth Academy Award, Kazu Hiro faced some criticism for the way he depicted Bradley Cooper as conductor Leonard Bernstein in "Maestro."
Wim Wenders (left) co-wrote the script for “Perfect Days” with top advertising creative Takuma Takasaki. Japanese star Koji Yakusho (right) won best actor at Cannes last year for his performance as the film’s protagonist, a taciturn toilet cleaner in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2024
Oscar-nominated 'Perfect Days' is 'not about toilets,' Wenders says
The director's film about a taciturn cleaner who keeps Tokyo's public toilets spotless prompts reflections on urban solitude, community and growing older.

Longform

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