The awards ceremony for the Locarno International Film Festival, held in southern Switzerland, was held on August 16th, and director Sho Miyake's (41) film "Travels and Days" won the Golden Leopard Award, the highest award in the competition section.
This is the first time in 18 years that a Japanese director has won the award, since Masahiro Kobayashi's "Premonition of Love" in 2007. Previous winners include Teinosuke Kinugasa's "Gate of Hell" and Kon Ichikawa's "Fires on the Plain."
The award-winning film, "Travels and Days," is based on manga artist Yoshiharu Tsuge's "Seaside Scenery" and "Ben-san of Honyara-do." It is a road movie that follows the protagonist, a screenwriter, as he takes a small step forward after meeting someone on his travels. In addition to lead actress Shim Eun-kyung, the film also stars Shinichi Tsutsumi, Yuumi Kawai, and Shiro Sano. It will be released in Japan on November 7th.
In his acceptance speech, Director Miyake expressed his joy, saying, "In a world where so many terrible things are happening, I have repeatedly thought about what film can do. While making this film, I repeatedly felt my love and trust for film, and my love for this world. I could not be happier if I could share this with everyone through the finished film."
Eun-kyung also expressed her excitement, saying, "I was so excited to work with Director Miyake, which was my dream. I can't believe our work won an award at Locarno." Kawai expressed his delight, saying, "Being involved in the film allowed me to think about many things, and I felt very happy. I'm so happy that we even received an award."
Director Miyake has won domestic awards with each of his works, including "Keiko: Clear Your Eyes" (2022) and "All at Dawn" (2024), which both won the Mainichi Film Awards' Japanese Film Grand Prize and were ranked number one in the Kinema Junpo Best Ten Japanese Films. It will be interesting to see how he will be evaluated internationally following this award.
