Masterclass with Director Koreeda Hirokazu

Inside the Quiet Power of Cinema

The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam and AEON BETA are pleased to present “Inside the Quiet Power of Cinema: Masterclass with Director Koreeda Hirokazu,” a special event to be held in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday 3 July 2026, in conjunction with the Vietnamese release of his latest film, The Sheep in the Box.

The Sheep in the Box, Koreeda Hirokazu’s latest feature film, will be released in Vietnam on Friday 3 July 2026. The film premiered in Competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, where it drew significant international attention and prompted lively discussion as a new work by one of Japan’s most acclaimed contemporary filmmakers. Set in the near future, the film explores questions of family, grief, memory, and the emotional implications of artificial intelligence through the story of a bereaved couple who welcomes a humanoid child into their home.

Conceived as an intimate and focused dialogue, the masterclass will offer Vietnamese film professionals, film students, arts and culture practitioners, and cinema lovers a rare opportunity to hear directly from Director Koreeda Hirokazu about his creative process, cinematic expression, and views on the relationship between film and society, including reflections on the making of The Sheep in the Box.

The event will be moderated by Que Chi, Film Reporter at VnExpress and Co–founder of Cinebar Film Club, an independent screening and discussion space dedicated to cinema culture. The program will be conducted in a Q&A format, with consecutive interpretation between Japanese and Vietnamese. 

Koreeda Hirokazu is one of Japan’s most celebrated filmmakers. His works have received major international recognition, including the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Shoplifters. His films are widely known for their delicate portrayal of family, memory, children, social relationships, and the quiet complexities of everyday life.

■ About Koreeda Hirokazu

Born 1962 in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from Waseda University in 1987, Koreeda joined TV Man Union where he directed several prize-winning documentary programs. In 2011, he launched his production company BUN-BUKU. In 1995, his directorial debut, Maborosi, based on the original novel written by Miyamoto Teru, won the 52nd Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Osella. After Life (1998), distributed in over 30 countries, brought Koreeda international acclaim. In 2001, Distance was selected in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and with his fourth work Nobody Knows (2004), Yagira Yuya garnered much attention for becoming the youngest person to ever receive the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actor Award. In 2006, Hana, a film centered on vengeance, became his first attempt at a period piece. In 2008, he presented the family drama Still Walking, which reflected his own personal experiences, and received high praise from around the world. In 2009, Air Doll was world premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival and was widely praised for marking a new frontier in its depiction of a sensual love fantasy. In 2011, I Wish won the Best Screenplay Award at the 59th San Sebastian International Film Festival. In 2012, he made his TV directorial debut with the series Going Home. His feature film Like Father, Like Son (2013), won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, received the audience awards at San Sebastian, Vancouver, and Sao Paulo International Film Festivals and broke the box office record of his past films in many territories. In 2015, Our Little Sister premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and received five awards including Best Film and Best Director at the Japan Academy Prize, as well as the Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival. In 2016, After the Storm premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, The Third Murder premiered in Competition at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival. In 2018, Shoplifters won the Palme d’Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, the Best Foreign Film at the 11th Cesars, and many other awards, as well as being nominated for the 91st Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2019, his first feature outside Japan, The Truth, starring French film legends Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, opened in Competition at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. In 2022, his Korean debut Broker won the Ecumenical Jury Prize, while Song Kang-Ho received the Best Actor Award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival. In 2023, his first Netflix series The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House was released worldwide, and his latest feature Monster won the Queer Palme and garnered Sakamoto Yuji the Best Screenplay Award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. Most recently, in 2025, he adapted and directed the Netflix series Asura, a remake of Mukoda Kuniko’s iconic home drama, which earned him the Best Director Award at the 20th Seoul International Drama Awards.

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