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Japanese Filmmaker Fukada Casts Queasy Gaze on J-Pop Idols
- Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada, 45, debuted his movie Love on Trial at Cannes, starring Saito Kyoko, who previously worked as a pop idol, in the principal role.
- Fukada’s latest film was prompted by a case involving a Japanese idol who faced legal action from her agency after violating a no-dating rule, highlighting exploitative contracts in the industry.
- The film explores how teenage idols are pressured to stay unattached and chaste to maintain an image for their older male fanbase and examines unequal industry relations.
- In Cannes, Fukada shared with AFP that discovering this issue caused him significant unease, which motivated him to explore the topic further and eventually develop it into a screenplay.
- He hopes the film will spark debate in Japan about gender, love, freedom, and discrimination, inviting viewers to discuss the heroine’s choices and industry practices.
56 Articles
56 Articles
Daily Journal
Japanese filmmaker Fukada casts queasy gaze on J-pop idols
Exploitative contracts that force young female Japanese pop stars to forego relationships and sex are at the heart of director Koji Fukada's latest film, which has premiered in Cannes.
Cannes Festival: "Love On Trial" Explores the Dark Side of the Japanese Pop Industry
Love On Trial follows May, a young pop idol in the midst of an irreparable ascent: falling in love, despite the formal prohibition contained in her contract. When her relationship breaks out in the open, the star is dragged to justice by her own agency that claims damages. The director Koji Fuka probes, with his latest feature film, the dark side of the pop industry in her country. Interview with the prodigy of Japanese cinema, selected for the …
Love on Trial – first-look review
It’s no secret that the young stars of Japanese pop music are held to extremely high standards, both by fans and their labels. The members of upcoming J-pop band Happy Fanfare are acutely aware of what is expected of them, drilled into them constantly by the suited, serious staff who stand just off to the side during their performances and fan signings and tell them everything they’re doing wrong. Every moment of their time is accounted for, and…
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