This year's winners of the 72nd Mainichi Film Awards were announced on Thursday by the Mainichi Shimbun and Sports Nippon Shimbun.
Complex x Complex, a 25-minute animated short by Miyuki Fukuda, won the award for the Best Animation Film. It was produced in 2015 and centers around a female student who has an obsession with armpit hair. The film was screened in North America at the New York Japan CineFest event on June 2 last year.
The Noburou Oofuji award for creative expression has been given to Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta (Lu Over the Wall), an animated film directed by Masaaki Yuasa produced by studio Science SARU. The film was screened in Japanese theaters on May 19, 2017 and GKids has licensed the film for North American distribution.
The award ceremony will be held at Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall in Kawasaki, Kanagawa on February 15.
72nd Mainichi Film Award winners
Best Film: Hanagatami
Excellence Film: Aa, Kouya
Best Animation Film: Complex x Complex
Noburou Oofuji Award: Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta
Foreign Film Best One Award: Watashi wa Daniel Blake
Best Director: Tomita Katsuya (Bangkok Nites)
Best Screenplay: Ishii Yuya (Yozora wa Itsudemo Saikou Mitsudo no Aoiro da)
Best Actor: Masaki Suda (Aa, Kouya)
Best Actress: Masami Nagasawa (Sanpo Suru Shinyakusha)
Best Supporting Actor: Koji Yakusho (Sandome no Satsujin)
Best Supporting Actress: Rena Tanaka (Osanago Warera ni Umare)
Best Cinematography: Kamakari Youichi (Yozora wa Itsudemo Saikou Mitsudo no Aoiro da)
Best Art Direction: Takeuchi Kouichi (Hanagatami)
Best Film Score: SOI48, Young-G, Surakai Gentimuton (Bangkok Nites)
Best Sound Recording: Katou Hirokazu, Keigo Takasuga (Yozora wa Itsudemo Saikou Mitsudo no Aoiro da)
Source: Eiga Natalie
