Best Actress Award at Cannes: A Dialogue Beyond Borders Touches The Heart

Editorial

13:59 JST, May 26, 2026

Actresses from Japan and France were awarded honors at a prestigious international film festival. A film featuring dialogue between these two women from different countries gave viewers hope for life and moved their hearts.

In the Cannes Film Festival’s competition category, Tao Okamoto, who starred in “All of a Sudden,” directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, became the first Japanese actress to win the best actress award. She shared the honor with Virginie Efira, who costarred in the film with Okamoto.

Also at the film festival, regarded as one of the three major international film festivals, Yuya Yagira won the best actor award in 2004, and Koji Yakusho won in 2023. Okamoto’s achievement is likely to further elevate the standing of Japanese actors.

Okamoto has appeared in numerous fashion shows and has succeeded as an international model. Since making her acting debut in 2013, she has appeared in many films both in Japan and abroad.

“All of a Sudden” tells the story of two people: a French woman who is the director of a care facility for elderly people, and a Japanese woman who is a theater director suffering from terminal cancer. They meet by chance and form a bond.

Hamaguchi is known for a style that brings out the interiority of characters through dialogue. Okamoto embodied this approach with a subtle performance that closely captured the protagonist’s emotions.

The film was a coproduction between Japan, France, Germany and Belgium. The story is set almost entirely in Paris.

Staff from countries with different cultures and customs came together to create a single film. Okamoto and Efira used Japanese and French to express the bond between their characters. After the film was screened at the festival, there was a standing ovation that lasted 14 minutes.

Being selected for the competition category at Cannes is itself considered an honor. This year, in addition to Hamaguchi’s work, films by directors Hirokazu Koreeda and Koji Fukada were also selected. This can be said to show the rising standards in Japanese filmmaking.

In Japan last year, combined box office revenue for Japanese and foreign films reached ¥274.4 billion, setting a new record. Japanese films dominated the top spots, with the kabuki-themed “Kokuho” breaking the box office record for live-action Japanese films, highlighting the industry’s strong performance.

However, the sort of art film that wins awards at international film festivals is unlikely to generate significant box office revenue.

To further enhance the reputation of Japanese movies abroad, the government should offer more support for art films. And the industry should take steps to nurture new talent, such as by screening a diverse range of films — not just blockbusters — at major theaters.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 26, 2026)