Japanese Films at Cannes

It seems like a whole bunch of Japanese films will be part of this year’s Cannes film festival next month. The following is from the latest Midnight Eye newsletter:

The annual Cannes film festival has long been a hotbed for Japanese cinema. This year is no different, with six films joining the fray in the various Cannes sections. In competition for the Palme d’Or we find Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s BRIGHT FUTURE (formerly known as JELLYFISH ALERT) and Naomi Kawase’s latest film SHARA. Takashi Miike’s bizarre yakuza/horror offering GOZU and the animations NASU: ANDALUSIA NO NATSU (directed by former Ghibli animator Kitaro Kosaka) and INTERSTELLA 5555: THE 5TORY OF THE 5ECRET 5TAR 5YSTEM (Reiji Matsumoto’s renewed collaboration with the French band Daft Punk) are in the Director’s Fortnight section. Finally, the 35-minute HITOKOROSHI NO ANA by Chihiro Ikeda is showing in the Cinefondation (student films) section. Ikeda is a student at the Film School of Tokyo.