Joining in the ranks of ‘Perfect Days,’ ‘Drive My Car,’ and ‘Shoplifters,’ Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s newest thriller film ‘Cloud‘ has been chosen to represent Japan in the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film at the 2025 Oscars.

Starring Masaki Suda in its leading role, ‘Cloud’ is a psychological thriller telling the story of a young man making bank by reselling goods online. After carelessly earning grudges by people around him, he finds himself at the center of a series of mysterious events that put his life at risk.

‘Cloud’ world premiered out of competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, the film will be released in Japan on September 27, 2024. Kiyoshi has previously won the Best Director Silver Lion award for ‘Wife of a Spy‘ at the 77th Venice International Film Festival.

“In the obscure corners of modern-day Japan, violent incidents sometimes occur for seemingly no reason whatsoever. When the causes are investigated, it becomes apparent that a system of sorts exists through which petty grudges and frustrations are accumulated and blown out of proportion by the Internet. I wondered if such a phenomenon would serve as subject matter for an action film, and began developing this project.” said director Kurosawa Kiyoshi about the inspiration of the film.

Watch the trailer for Cloud.

A short list of the submissions from all the countries participating in the Oscar race will be unveiled on December 17, 2024, before revealing the official nominations on January 17, 2025.