Focus presents the early short films of a key international filmmaker. The showcase will consist of rarely seen short films, with a post-screening Q&A with the filmmaker.
We are proud to be able to feature two of film auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda’s earlier documentaries, Lessons from a Calf and Where Has All The Pollution Gone? for the inaugural edition of the Objectifs Short Film Festival.
Known for his seminal works like Maborosi, Nobody Knows and Shoplifters, Kore-eda’s inception as a director came about through television documentaries that he directed and conceptualised in 1987 for NONFIX, a late-night documentary series that was broadcasted on Fuji Television. The opportunity and experimentation afforded through work for NONFIX, which included Lessons from a Calf and Where Has All The Pollution Gone? led to Kore-eda’s perennial fascination with an image’s potential to communicate intention, as well as elicit emotion. As observed through his later fictional films, Kore-eda’s hallmark ability to harness an ironically steely eye in order to garner empathy for issues pertaining to social realism has evident roots in his earlier television work.
Witness the beginnings of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s journey as a filmmaker in this rare chance to watch his early films, as well as trace his directing methodology from the initial craft of documentary, all with the filmmaker himself in attendance.
In 1988, Ina Elementary School adopted a cow named Laura from a ranch as a part of the school’s integrated learning program. Students learn from building the cow’s barn, calculating the feed cost and debating in class for making decisions. Capturing the kids’ lively expressions, the documentary witnesses their growth through the care of Laura. Kore-eda’s first project, mostly rolling a video camera by himself.
In early 1960s Chiba, pollution from a steel factory left locals with asthma. Ministry of Environment bureaucrat Hashimoto Michio became a hero after drafting Japan’s first pollution control law in 1967. But as certified patients multiplied and compensation costs strained the economy, the government deregulated the law, declaring the pollution resolved. Because of this, Hashimoto was recast as a traitor by victims who knew otherwise.
After graduating from Waseda University in 1987, Hirokazu Kore-eda started his film career when he joined TV Man Union, where he directed several prize-winning documentary programs. In 2011, he launched his production company BUN-BUKU.
His directorial debut, Maborosi (1995), won the 52nd Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Osella. After Life (1998), distributed in over 30 countries, brought Kore-eda international acclaim. His subsequent critically acclaimed films like Distance (2001), Nobody Knows (2004), Air Doll (2009), Like Father, Like Son (2013), Our Little Sister (2015), After The Storm (2016) all premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2018, Shoplifters won the Palme d’Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, the Best Foreign Film at the 11th Césars, 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. Monster (2013) won the Queer Palme and garnered Yuji Sakamoto the Best Screenplay Award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. His latest films Sheep In The Box (2026) and Look Back (2026) premiered at the Cannes Film Fesitval and Venice International Film Festival respectively.
