Venice Film ‘Cloud’ By Kurosawa Kiyoshi Selected As Japan’s Oscar Submission

Japan has picked Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s Cloud as the country’s Oscar submission for Best International Film.

The film will premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival this week.

Cloud is produced by Nikkatsu Corporation and Tokyo Theatres Company. With Nikkatsu handling world sales, the feature has been acquired for France (Art House Films), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Italy (Minerva Pictures) and Taiwan (Sky Digi Entertainment) so far.

Starring Masaki Suda, Cloud is a thriller that follows a young man named Yoshii who resells goods online and ends up triggering a series of mysterious events, blurring the boundaries between the online and offline worlds.

Previously, Kurosawa previously won the festival’s Silver Lion for best director with Wife Of A Spy in 2020. He has also won the Un Certain Regard jury prize at Cannes for Tokyo Sonata in 2008, as well as the Un Certain Regard award for best director for Journey To The Shore in 2015.

Japan has notched strong showings at the Oscars, especially in recent years. Last year, Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days received an Oscar nomination. In 2022, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car scored four nominations and won the Academy Award for Best International Film. Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters was also nominated in 2019.

In 2009, Yojiro Takita’s Departures clinched an Oscar, two years before Tetsuya Nakashima’s Confessions made the Oscar shortlist.