Japan has selected All of a Sudden, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, as its official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.
The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan announced the decision on Wednesday. The choice gives the 47-year-old auteur his second opportunity to represent the nation at the Oscars. His previous submission, Drive My Car, won the Best International Feature trophy five years ago while securing additional nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
A Powerful Partnership in Paris
The French-Japanese production arrives in the awards conversation following a celebrated debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it earned an 11-minute standing ovation. Co-stars Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the festival’s Best Actress award, making Okamoto the first Japanese actress in history to receive the honour.
Set primarily at a residential care home outside Paris, the three-hour and sixteen-minute film stars Efira as Marie-Lou, the home’s director. Marie-Lou attempts to implement a care philosophy centred on active listening and patient dignity, facing institutional hurdles and resistance from her overworked staff.
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Her life changes when she meets Mari, played by Okamoto, a Japanese theatre director living with terminal cancer. The two women form a deep bond, finding common ground as they navigate the limits of modern medical care and personal autonomy.
Critical reaction at Cannes praised the production’s emotional balance. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, chief film critic David Rooney described the drama as “a work of deeply affecting humanism,” praising its “luminous moments of human connection” and noting that “the payoff is worth it.”
Adapting Real Life Reflections
Hamaguchi co-wrote the screenplay alongside French writer Léa Le Dimna. The team drew loose inspiration from When Life Suddenly Takes a Turn: Twenty Letters Between a Philosopher with Terminal Cancer and a Medical Anthropologist, a non-fiction collection of correspondence between philosopher Makiko Miyano and anthropologist Maho Isono.
The project operates as a four-nation co-production, uniting Cinefrance Studios in France, Office Shirous and Bitters End in Japan, Heimatfilm in Germany, and Tarantula in Belgium.
The film extends a decade of exceptional international recognition for Hamaguchi. Beyond his earlier Oscar success, he secured the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize in Berlin for Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy in 2021 and the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival for Evil Does Not Exist in 2023.
Broad International Campaign Plans
American distributor Neon has acquired the film, scheduling a theatrical release across the United States on 25 November 2026. The company intends to mount an expansive campaign across multiple Academy categories, submitting Efira for Best Actress, Okamoto for Best Supporting Actress, and pushing for consideration in Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The 99th Academy Awards ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 14 March 2027.
