OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2026 VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (In Competition)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2026 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Special Presentation)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2026 BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL (In Competition)
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION - 2026 JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL
Palme d’Or-winning director Koreeda Hirokazu (Shoplifters, Like Father Like Son, The Truth) brings his signature humanism to LOOK BACK, a deeply moving adaptation of Fujimoto Tatsuki’s acclaimed 'one-shot' manga about the wild emotional swings of childhood friendship, and the process of finding your voice through art.
Northern Japan. Fourth-grader Fujino enjoys the admiration of her classmates, who delight in the four-panel comics she publishes in the school newspaper. But her confidence is shaken when Kyōmoto – a reclusive classmate whose social anxiety keeps her from attending school - begins submitting work of extraordinary and superior skill. What starts as quiet rivalry soon evolves into a profound creative partnership, bound by a shared devotion to illustration. As they grow together - and eventually apart - their journey traces the fragile interplay of connection, ambition and regret...
Shot entirely on 35mm over the course of a year in Nikaho – Fujimoto's own hometown, in the shadow of majestic Mount Chōkai – LOOK BACK follows the seasons as faithfully as its heroines follow their pens: snow and cherry blossoms, summer rice paddies, autumn harvests; the richly grained images give every frame the warmth of treasured photographs. The lead actresses spent four months learning to draw before cameras rolled, conveying a devotion felt in every scratch of pen on paper. Their younger counterparts, real-life classmates cast from a national search, are equally captivating as the characters in their primary school years.
Hailed as one of Koreeda’s finest films after its Venice premiere, where it collected five prizes (including the prestigious SIGNIS Award), LOOK BACK builds to a final, breathtaking flourish of artistry. A luminous ode to friendship and the creative spirit, it serves as a reminder to cherish the people who push us forward, and to savour those shared days while they last.
Inspired to draw? Enter the LOOK BACK Manga Challenge, presented by Kinokuniya. Four panels. One story. Your turn. Entries close 13 January. Find out more »
