The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren) has officially selected Ryusuke Hamaguchi‘s French-language drama “All of a Sudden” as the country’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The announcement came on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, setting the stage for what many expect to be a strong Oscar campaign for the acclaimed Japanese director.
This selection marks the second time a Hamaguchi film has represented Japan in the Oscars’ international feature race. His previous film, “Drive My Car,” won the category in 2022 and also received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 94th Academy Awards.
A Cannes Sensation With Historic Wins
“All of a Sudden” premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2026, where it received a seven-minute standing ovation — the longest of the festival at that time. The three-hour-plus drama moved audiences at the Palais greatly, with many viewers openly weeping during the credits.
The film’s leads, Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, shared the Best Actress prize at Cannes. Okamoto made history as the first Japanese performer to win the Best Actress award at the festival. Accepting the honor, Okamoto expressed deep gratitude toward her director.
“The simple reason why a mediocre Japanese actress, someone like me, is standing here today is purely because of our amazing director, Hamaguchi-san, and his incredible writing and guidance as a director.”
She added that the “love and respect” Hamaguchi showed the cast and crew gave them the “energy to keep going”.
What ‘All of a Sudden’ Is About
The film tells the story of Marie-Lou Fontaine (played by Virginie Efira), who runs a nursing home outside Paris and works to adopt a more dignity-focused model of elderly care. Her life changes when she meets Mari Morisaki (played by Tao Okamoto), a Japanese theater director undergoing cancer treatment. The two women form an intense friendship that reshapes both their lives.
The movie draws inspiration from “When Life Suddenly Takes a Turn: Twenty Letters Between a Philosopher With Terminal Cancer and a Medical Anthropologist,” a book of real correspondence between philosopher Makiko Miyano, who was dying of cancer, and medical anthropologist Maho Isono.
Hamaguchi co-wrote the screenplay with Léa Le Dimna. The film is a co-production between Japan, France, Germany, and Belgium, and was shot largely in Paris. It marks Hamaguchi’s first French-language film and his first movie primarily set outside Japan.
Hamaguchi’s Growing International Recognition
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 47, has become one of Japan’s most internationally celebrated filmmakers over the past decade. Along with his Oscar win for “Drive My Car,” he has received the Cannes Screenplay Prize for that same film, the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize in Berlin for “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” in 2021, and the Venice Grand Jury Prize for “Evil Does Not Exist” in 2023.
Reflecting on the Cannes reception for “All of a Sudden,” Hamaguchi told Variety that while he knows standing ovations are tradition at the festival, he found deeper meaning in what he saw in his actors’ faces.
“I felt very much that the film was being accepted by the people. They looked like they had just accomplished something really important. To be able to see their expressions and to be with them gave me a lot of happiness.”
The film took Hamaguchi five years to develop. The source material — the letters between Miyano and Isono — had been on his mind for years. He described reading the letters as a physical experience.
“When I read those words, my body shook. I felt that if I could pass that feeling on to the audience, I would be passing on something that is actually very important.”
Critical Response and Oscar Campaign Plans
The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic David Rooney called “All of a Sudden” “a work of deeply affecting humanism,” praising its “luminous moments of human connection”. Despite the film’s three-hour-sixteen-minute runtime, Rooney concluded that “the payoff is worth it”.
Variety critic Jessica Kiang described the film as “the rarest type of film, not merely good enough to remind you what cinema can be, but great enough to remind you what life can be”.
Neon, which holds North American rights to the film, will release “All of a Sudden” in U.S. theaters on November 25, 2026. The distributor plans to campaign for Efira for Best Actress and Okamoto for Best Supporting Actress, as well as pushing the film for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Related:
Release Information
“All of a Sudden” opened in Japan on June 19, 2026, through Bitters End. Diaphana Distribution released the film in France on August 12, 2026. North American audiences can expect the film in theaters on November 25, 2026.
For viewers in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India, specific release dates have not yet been announced. However, Neon’s North American release often serves as a benchmark for other English-speaking territories, with additional markets typically following in the weeks after.
The Road to the Oscars
The 99th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 14, 2027. Eiren’s selection now moves to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will first narrow submissions from countries worldwide to a shortlist of 15 films before selecting the final five nominees.
Given Hamaguchi’s track record and the film’s strong Cannes reception, “All of a Sudden” is already being discussed as a potential multi-category contender at the 99th Academy Awards.
Also Read: Japan’s Olympic Figure Skating Champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara Announce Engagement
Check out more entertainment news and updates on VvipTimes for the latest from the world of film and awards.
Leave a Reply