As of 2019, five Shochiku titles have been nominated for Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards of the USA, with Departures winning for Foreign Language Film. Shochiku has also received numerous awards at major international film festivals. Here, we present some of the titles that have won awards at major film festivals or have been nominated for competitions and some titles that have been screened as classics at major film festivals.
Select official film festival entries and awards received
Shochiku motion pictures have been highly acclaimed internationally since the 1950s. Twenty-Four Eyes won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language in 1955 from the American organization, as did Eyes of Children in 1956 and Rose On His Arm in 1957. Shochiku also has an illustrious history of awards from the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice International Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Academy Awards of the USA, and other organizations.
In recent years, The Eel won the Palme d’Or (the most prominent prize) at France’s Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and Departures won the USA’s Academy Award for Foreign Language Film in 2009.
Here are some awards that have been received at major film festivals.
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Camera Award
Year: 2014
Berlin International Film Festival
Silver Bear for Best Actress Award (Kuroki Haru)
Year: 2009
Academy Awards
Foreign Language Film Award winner
Year: 2007
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Nominated for Le Cristal d’Annecy (Short films)
Year: 2005
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Camera Award
Year: 2005
Berlin International Film Festival
Competition
Year: 2004
Academy Awards
Nominated for Foreign Language Film
Year: 2000
Cannes Film Festival
Competition Futures Films
Year: 1999
Berlin International Film Festival
Panorama
FIPRESCI Prize
Year: 1998
Berlin International Film Festival
Competition
FIPRESCI Prize
Year: 1997
Cannes Film Festival
Palme d’Or
Year: 1991
Venice International Film Festival
International Film Critic’s Week Competition
FIPRESCI Prize (Parallel Sections)
Year: 1990
Berlin International Film Festival
Panorama
CICAE Prize
Year: 1990
Cannes Film Festival
Grand Prize of the Jury
FIPRESCI Prize
Year: 1987
Cannes Film Festival
Jury Prize
Year: 1986
Berlin International Film Festival
Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution
Year: 1968
Academy Awards
Nominated for Foreign Language Film
Year: 1963
Cannes Film Festival
Special Jury Prize
Year: 1964
Academy Awards
Nominated for Foreign Language Film
Year: 1962
Academy Awards
Nominated for Foreign Language Film
Year: 1960
Venice International Film Festival
San Giorgio Prize
Pasinetti Award
Year: 1957
Golden Globe Awards
Best Foreign Film – Foreign Language winner
Year: 1956
Golden Globe Awards
Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language winner
Year: 1955
Golden Globe Awards
Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language winner
Select history of classic works screened at film festivals
Ozu Yasujiro, Mizoguchi Kenji, Kinoshita Keisuke, Nakamura Noboru, Oshima Nagisa, Yamada Yoji—many masters and greats have come out of Shochiku to become glittering stars worldwide. The works and masterpieces these directors poured their souls into are surely the pride of Japan and are treasures for the world at large. Shochiku continues to publish these works as Shochiku Cinema Classics .
One of the important tasks of Shochiku Cinema Classics is digital repair. Motion picture titles created in the 20th century were mostly shot and screened using film. Film deteriorates unless it is stored with care in low temperature and low humidity. Even should the film be in good condition, because of the decrease in commercial instruments to screen film, it is becoming ever urgent to repair and digitize audio and video to pass them on to the next generation.
2019
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Shanghai International Film Festival
Classic Section
2018
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Classics
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Classics
2017
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Venice International Film Festival
Venice Classics
2016
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Classics
Director: Seo Mitsuyo
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Classics
2015
Director: Mizoguchi Kenji
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Classics
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
MoMA
World Premiere
2014
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Classics
When It Rains (Doshaburi)
The Shape of Night (Yoru no Henrin)
Director: Nakamura Noboru
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Forum
Equinox Flower Digitally Restored (Higanbana)
An Autumn Afternoon Digitally Restored (Sanma no Aji)
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Hong Kong International Film Festival
Director: Oshima Nagisa
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Classics
2013
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Classics
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Classics
Director: Ozu Yasujiro
Venice International Film Festival
Venice Classics
Director: Nakamura Noboru
Venice International Film Festival
Venice Classics
Woman (Onna)
Engagement Ring (Konyaku Yubiwa)
Farewell to Dream (Yuyake gumo)
A Legend or Was It? (Shito no Densetsu)
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Forum
2012
Director: Kinoshita Keisuke
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Classics
Director: Kinoshita Keisuke
Venice International Film Festival
Venice Classics
2005
Berlin International Film Festival
Berlinale Special