Anna Yamada Wins Rising Star Award at Nippon Connection for New Group
The award and Fukunaga's public praise mark a significant career milestone for Yamada, who is transitioning from supporting roles to leading a festival-circuit film with international traction.
Key Facts
- Anna Yamada won the Nippon Rising Star Award at the Nippon Connection Japanese film festival in Frankfurt.
- The film New Group, directed by Yuta Shimotsu, screened on June 5 and 7 at the festival.
- Shimotsu built the human pyramid in the film with students from Nippon Sport Science University; the top five of nine tiers were actually stacked.
- Yamada received a surprise video message from Shogun director Soji Fukunaga, who praised her 'powerful eyes' and 'strong vitality.'
- New Group opens nationwide in Japan on June 12.
Reporting from 1 source: Eiga Natalie.
Anna Yamada received the Nippon Rising Star Award at the Nippon Connection Japanese film festival in Frankfurt for her role in the sci-fi psycho-entertainment film New Group. The film, directed by Yuta Shimotsu, has been invited to 22 festivals worldwide and opens in Japan on June 12. Yamada also received a surprise video message from Shogun director Soji Fukunaga.
Anna Yamada, star of the sci-fi psycho-entertainment film New Group, accepted the Nippon Rising Star Award at the Nippon Connection festival in Frankfurt on the event's final day. The film, directed by Yuta Shimotsu, screened on June 5 and 7 with Yamada and Shimotsu taking questions from the audience. Shimotsu explained that the human pyramid at the center of the story was built with students from Nippon Sport Science University, with the top five of nine tiers actually stacked. Yamada, who plays the withdrawn Ai, spoke a few words in German at the screening and later received a surprise video message from Soji Fukunaga, who directed her in the film Yamagirl. Fukunaga praised her "powerful eyes" and "strong vitality." Yamada closed her acceptance speech with a playful plea: "Everyone, please give me work!" New Group opens nationwide in Japan on June 12.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Eiga Natalie なんてすごい発想！山田杏奈・青木柚だからこそ成立した「NEW GROUP」試写会感想まとめ