Japan has picked Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden” as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, giving the “Drive My Car” director a second run at a prize he already won five years ago. The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan announced the selection Wednesday.
The film, a French-language drama that marks Hamaguchi’s first project set primarily outside Japan, premiered in competition at Cannes in May to a lengthy standing ovation. Stars Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the festival’s best actress prize for their performances. Efira plays the director of a Parisian nursing home who pushes a philosophy of elder care built on listening and dignity, over objections from her staff. Okamoto plays a terminally ill Japanese theater director whose arrival at the facility draws the two women into an unexpected bond.
Hamaguchi co-wrote the screenplay with Léa Le Dimna, drawing loosely on a real collection of letters exchanged between philosopher Miyano Makiko, who was dying of cancer, and medical anthropologist Isono Maho. The three-hour-plus film runs on a co-production structure spanning France, Japan, Germany and Belgium, with Cinefrance Studios, Office Shirous, Bitters End, Heimatfilm and Tarantula among the backing companies. Neon holds North American rights and plans to open the film theatrically on Nov. 25, alongside a wider awards push covering best picture, director, actress and supporting actress.
This is Hamaguchi’s second turn representing Japan in the international feature race. “Drive My Car” won the category outright in 2022 after also earning nominations for best picture, director and adapted screenplay, a run that made it the first Japanese film nominated for the Academy’s top prize. He has kept up a steady pace of festival recognition since, taking Cannes’ screenplay award for “Drive My Car,” the Silver Bear grand jury prize in Berlin for “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” and Venice’s grand jury prize for “Evil Does Not Exist.”
Japan’s submission now moves to the Academy, which will narrow entries from countries worldwide to a shortlist of 15 before settling on five nominees. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony takes place March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
