
The 31st annual Critics Choice Awards unveiled their below-the-line film shortlists, with Sinners emerging as the dominant contender across the crafts categories. The film topped all other titles, securing recognition in every below-the-line field.

The 31st annual Critics Choice Awards unveiled their below-the-line film shortlists, with Sinners emerging as the dominant contender across the crafts categories. The film topped all other titles, securing recognition in every below-the-line field.
Kokuho, directed by filmmaker Sang-il Lee, is a drama based on a novel by Shuichi Yoshida. The film follows a young boy named Kikuo, played by Ryo Yoshizawa. After Kikuo’s father, a yakuza boss, is killed before his eyes, Kikuo is taken in by a renowned kabuki actor and is trained in the art of kabuki.

Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will open the 48th annual Denver Film Festival, taking place October 31 – November 9, 2025, with the lineup showcasing 136 feature-length films, documentaries and shorts.

Japan has selected Lee Sang-il’s epic kabuki drama Kokuho (National Treasure) as its submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.

The 50th Toronto International Film Festival taking place September 4–14, 2025, unveiled the lineup of Official Selections in its Gala and Special Presentations program including films from Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, Mamoru Hosoda, Zacharias Kunuk, Baz Luhrmann, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Jafar Panahi, Benny Safdie, and Gus Van Sant.