Ishikawa Kei’s drama “A Man” won eight awards at the 46th Japan Academy Film Awards ceremony, which was held on Friday at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takawana in Tokyo. The film premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section, and has been nominated for 13 awards in 12 categories.
In addition to Best Picture, Ishikawa won Best Director, while the film’s writer Mukai Kosuke won Best Screenplay, and its star Tsumabushi Satoshi won Best Actor. In “Man,” Satoshi plays a Korean lawyer who searches for the truth about a man who was killed in an accident who was living under a fake identity.
Best Supporting Actor went to Kubota Masataka for his portrayal of the mysterious man, while Ando Sakura won Best Supporting Actress for her performance as his wife. The film also won Best Sound Recording and Best Editing.
In his Best Director speech, Ishikawa said, “I really feel that this award is a cudgel passed to me from top directors who have produced many great Japanese films. And this is a baton that I will pass myself.”
Kishii Yukino won the Best Actress Award for portraying a deaf boxer in Miyake Sho’s “Small, Slow but Steady.”
The First Slam Dunk, based on a baseball comedy, won Best Animation. The film was also a hit at the Japanese box office, bringing in $85 million since its release on December 3, 2022.
Top Gun: Maverick won Best Foreign Language Film.
The Japanese Academy Awards, which have been awarded annually since 1978, are modeled after the American Academy Awards. Nominees are selected by industry professionals, including employees of major film companies, which has historically resulted in a large number of nominations going to commercially successful films, rather than critically acclaimed independent films.
