On Saturday, Tao Okamoto became the first Japanese winner of the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden. Okamoto shared the award with Belgian-French actor Virginie Efira. In the film, Okamoto plays terminally ill Japanese experimental theatre director Mari Morisaki opposite Efira’s Marie-Lou Fontaine, the head of a Parisian private care facility.
“All of a Sudden” directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi © Festival de Cannes
Tao Okamoto Dedicates Award to Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“The simple reason why a mediocre Japanese actress, someone like me, is standing here today is purely because of our amazing director, Hamaguchi-san, and his incredible writing and guidance as a director,” Okamoto said after accepting the award. The model and actor added that the “love and respect” Hamaguchi showed the cast and crew gave them the “energy to keep going.”
Loosely based on Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono’s non-fiction book You and I – The Illness Suddenly Gets Worse, All of a Sudden centers on a care home that treats residents with dignity using a technique called “humanitude.” Fontaine, the director of the facility, is overworked, but her life is transformed following an encounter with terminally ill Japanese playwright Morisaki.
The film received a standing ovation in Cannes that lasted around 14 minutes. It is Hamaguchi’s third film to compete at the festival, following his romantic drama Asako I & II in 2018 and the road movie Drive My Car in 2021. The latter won three awards at Cannes, including Best Screenplay, and later received four Oscar nominations, winning Best International Feature Film.
sheep in the box, directed by hirokazu koreeda |© Festival de Cannes
Three Japanese Directors Nominated for Palme d’Or
Hamaguchi’s return to competition formed part of a broader Japanese showing at Cannes this year, with three Japanese directors in contention for the Palme d’Or. Hirokazu Koreeda and Koji Fukada were also nominated for Sheep in the Box and Nagi Notes, respectively. It marked the first time since 2001 that Japan had three filmmakers simultaneously competing for the festival’s top prize. Ultimately, the Palme d’Or went to Cristian Mungiu for his drama Fjord, which explores child abuse.
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Updated On May 25, 2026
