The upcoming 18th edition of Japan Cuts, North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema, will kick off with a special screening of ChaO, the hotly anticipated animated feature debut from director Yasuhiro Aoki.
Produced by Studio 4ºC, the avant-garde animation house behind Mind Game and Tekkonkinkreet, ChaO reimagines a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale through a cyberpunk lens, transporting audiences to a near-future Shanghai where humans and mermen coexist. The story follows an ordinary salaryman who is unexpectedly thrust into a diplomatic marriage with a mermaid princess, triggering a whirlwind of political absurdity and emotional discovery. With over 100,000 hand-drawn frames created over the course of seven years, Aoki’s film is described as a visually extravagant and emotionally idiosyncratic passion project. Japan Cuts is hosting its U.S. premiere ahead of its theatrical release in Japan in August. Gkids has acquired the domestic rights to the film.
Running July 10–20 at the Japan Society’s headquarters in New York City, Japan Cuts is co-organized by Japan Society’s Peter Tatara and Alexander Fee, and this year features three world premieres, nine North American premieres, and a host of special guests, receptions and live Q&As.
“We’re deeply proud to celebrate Japanese film in the heart of New York City,” said Tatara. “Each year, Japan Cuts presents a look into the contemporary Japanese cinema scene, spotlighting both major award-winners as well as rising stars, and we hope this festival helps build bridges between film lovers in New York and filmmakers in Japan — and more broadly between our two countries — with film a tremendous snapshot into modern Japan’s culture, values and soul.”
Among this year’s marquee guests is prolific director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who will receive the 2025 Cut Above Award for outstanding achievement in film. Kurosawa will attend the New York premiere of his latest thriller Cloud as well as a screening of Serpent’s Path, his 2024 French-language remake of his own 1998 V-Cinema title. Both films will be presented alongside Q&As with Kurosawa. Japan Cuts will also screen 4K restorations of the original Serpent’s Path and his rarely seen 1998 feature License to Live on 35mm film.
Award-winning actress Yuumi Kawai, this year’s best actress honoree at the Japan Academy Film Prize, will also make an appearance. Kawai will present the North American premiere of Yu Irie’s A Girl Named Ann, in which she stars as a young woman navigating life on the margins of Japanese society, as well as the U.S. premiere of She Taught Me Serendipity, directed by Akiko Ohku. Kawai also delivers a standout performance in Teki Cometh, Daihachi Yoshida’s genre-bending black-and-white thriller that swept the Tokyo International Film Festival and will get its New York premiere at the festival.
Further highlights include The Real You, Yuya Ishii’s dark techno-mystery adapted from a novel by Keiichiro Hirano, with a live introduction and book signing from the author; A Samurai in Time, a breakout indie hit about a time-traveling Edo-era warrior; and Kowloon Generic Romance, a dreamy manga adaptation set in a romanticized version of the Kowloon Walled City. Shunji Iwai’s beloved 1995 classic Love Letter will also return to the big screen in a newly restored 4K version, marking the film’s 30th anniversary.
The Next Generation section, the festival’s sole juried category, will present a curated selection of indie features from emerging directors, with one film receiving the Obayashi Prize, named in honor of the late cult filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi.
Japan Cuts will close on July 20 with the world premiere of The Spirit of Japan, a documentary by Joseph Overbey about a Japanese family’s centuries-old shochu distillery in Kagoshima. The screening will be followed by a reception featuring shochu from the Yamatozakura Distillery and a Q&A with Overbey.
The full 2025 Japan Cuts selection is below.
Feature Slate
Blazing Fists – Dir. Takashi Miike (U.S. Premiere)
ChaO – Dir. Yasuhiro Aoki (Special Screening / Opening Night)
Cloud – Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (New York Premiere)
The Gesuidouz – Dir. Kenichi Ugana (U.S. Premiere)
A Girl Named Ann – Dir. Yu Irie (North American Premiere)
Gridman Universe – Dir. Akira Amemiya (North American Theatrical Premiere)
Kaiju Guy! – Dir. Junichiro Yagi (North American Premiere)
Kowloon Generic Romance – Dir. Chihiro Ikeda (World Premiere)
My Sunshine – Dir. Hiroshi Okuyama (New York Premiere)
The Real You – Dir. Yuya Ishii (North American Premiere)
A Samurai in Time – Dir. Junichi Yasuda (New York Premiere)
Serpent’s Path (2024) – Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (East Coast Premiere)
She Taught Me Serendipity – Dir. Akiko Ohku (U.S. Premiere)
Teki Cometh – Dir. Daihachi Yoshida (New York Premiere)
Yasuko, Songs of Days Past – Dir. Kichitaro Negishi (North American Premiere)
Next Generation
Michiyuki – Voices of Time – Dir. Hiromichi Nakao (World Premiere of Final Version)
See You Tomorrow – Dir. Saki Michimoto (North American Premiere)
Promised Land – Dir. Masashi Iijima (New York Theatrical Premiere)
So Beautiful, Wonderful and Lovely – Dir. Megumi Okawara (North American Premiere)
Classics
License to Live – Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Archival 35mm Screening)
Love Letter – Dir. Shunji Iwai (International Premiere of 4K Restoration)
Serpent’s Path (1998) – Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (North American Premiere of 4K Restoration)
Short Cuts
End of Dinosaurs – Dir. Kako Annika Esashi (U.S. Premiere)
Flow – Dir. Shoko Tamai (New York Premiere)
I Am Not Invisible – Dir. Yuki York (U.S. Premiere)
Tree of Sinners – Dir. Rii Ishihara & Hiroyuki Onogawa (North American Premiere)
Documentary
Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers – Dir. Amélie Ravalec (New York Premiere)
The Spirit of Japan – Dir. Joseph Overbey (World Premiere / Closing Night)
What Should We Have Done? – Dir. Tomoaki Fujino (New York Premiere)
