Kore-eda Says Japanese Cinema Has A Global Moment

Director Kore-eda Hirokazu says people at international film festivals now describe Japanese films as "really interesting," a shift he says would have been hard to imagine a decade ago. He made the remark at the opening of a Kering Women In Motion talk in Tokyo, as Variety reported.

The talk took place on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills. Kering, a global luxury group, runs the Women In Motion programme, which in Tokyo is linked to the Tokyo International Film Festival. Kering announced the event in mid-September, naming its three panellists in advance.

Kore-eda gave the credit for the change to a younger generation. He pointed to directors Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Fukada Koji, who are leading a group of filmmakers in their 20s and 30s taking their work abroad. Their films, he said, have drawn more overseas attention to Japanese cinema.

The panel brought together singer and actor Ninomiya Kazunari, a member of the group Arashi, who starred in Clint Eastwood's World War II drama Letters from Iwo Jima, which won an Academy Award. Producer Murata Chieko, who made the 2025 kabuki-themed drama Kokuho, joined him. Kokuho earned an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The third panellist, Amy Homma, is director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Academy Collection. Journalist Tatsuta Atsuko moderated the discussion.

The talk sits inside a larger programme. The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival runs from October 26 to November 4, 2026, with screenings and events spread across the Hibiya, Yurakucho, Marunouchi and Ginza districts. The festival's film lineup includes a Women's Empowerment section, and it has also set up an Academy in Tokyo programme with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that presents the Oscars.

For audiences in Tokyo, the event offered a chance to hear the people making and promoting Japanese films talk about how the industry looks from the inside. Festival season is also when many of the films that will reach cinemas and streaming services over the next two years are first seen by buyers, so interest in Japanese work at these events tends to matter beyond the week itself.