Entertainment
How Keanu Reeves Landed in Stop-Motion Samurai Epic ‘Hidari’ – and Why S.S. Rajamouli Wanted to Know How It Was Made
Reading in data-saving mode. Read full article from Variety website.
Published 10/30/2026 11:38:17 PM
Keanu Reeves' 'Hidari' Wows 'RRR' Director S.S. Rajamouli
Keanu Reeves joined Japanese stop-motion feature “Hidari” after watching the project’s pilot film, with his team getting back to the filmmakers about a week after the screening was arranged to set up a Zoom call, director Kawamura Masashi said at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where he also updated the film’s fundraising push.
Kawamura, who created, wrote and is directing “Hidari,” appeared with co-director Ogawa Iku at a session reporting on Film Frontier, a talent development program backed by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs and run by festival organizer UniJapan. The program has paid for the team’s travel to markets and industry events.
Reeves’ casting as the lead voice was announced at Cannes in May, but Kawamura said the actor had seen the pilot before the festival.
“We were heavily influenced by Kurosawa’s films, so when the puppet was being made, I asked for Mifune Toshiro and Keanu Reeves added together, divided by two and then aged,” Kawamura said.
From then on, Kawamura kept Reeves at the top of his list for the lead voice. The film’s producers took that seriously, found a way to reach the actor and arranged for him to watch the pilot.
“About a week later we heard back, and it was, ‘OK, let’s do a Zoom,’” Kawamura said. “I was thinking, so this is how fast things move these days. Then we got on the call and Keanu was there on the other side.”
“Hidari” has also caught the eye of “RRR” director S.S. Rajamouli. Kawamura said he met the Indian filmmaker at Annecy, showed him “Hidari” and ended up in a standing conversation of about 30 minutes about how the film was made.
“He said, ‘You’re amazing. How did you make this?’” Kawamura said.
Kawamura said an encounter like that, with a director he would rarely cross paths with otherwise, could only happen at a festival. “There’s the surprise inside the theater, and there are the connections after you walk out,” he said.
The team shot the proof-of-concept short around three years ago, paying for it themselves with help from crowdfunding, and posted it on YouTube. It has since drawn about 5.3 million views and roughly 120,000 followers, many of them overseas, according to Kawamura.
“Wood carving, stop-motion and a period drama – it’s a very austere project,” he said. “If we’d pitched it with just a written proposal, I don’t think anyone would have understood it.”
With Film Frontier support, the filmmakers pitched “Hidari” at the Annecy Animation Showcase, part of the Cannes Film Market, carrying one of the hand-carved puppets with them. Kawamura said the puppet drew bigger crowds than its makers, and the Cannes platform put the film in front of live-action and action fans as well as distributors and agents.
“Stop-motion is a really small world, and people tend to assume it’s a narrow market,” Kawamura said. “But even though it’s stop-motion, we think of it as an action film.”
The budget is large, and the team is still out selling the project, seeking grants and partnerships with overseas distributors, Kawamura said. “In terms of speed, we’re making it the indie way,” he added. “Thanks to being light on our feet, I think the project has managed to make it across thin ice.”
Earlier this month in Busan, Dwarf Studios producer Matsumoto Noriko said talks with a U.S. company that had offered to fund the entire budget, in exchange for all the rights, had stalled.
Ogawa, who works at stop-motion house Dwarf Studios, attended Annecy this year. He said the technique remains niche in commercial film and TV animation, but festival shorts and student sections are full of it, and studios from Europe, North America and beyond converge on Annecy. “When I took the puppet along, it was hugely popular,” he said. “It was fun.”
Film Frontier, now in its third year, is part of the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Creator Support Fund, which backs creators for around three years, from project development through to overseas rollout.
§
The Japan IP Market will be back in Cannes next May for a second straight year. The Cannes Film Market and TIFFCOM, the content market of the Tokyo International Film Festival, are again teaming up on the event, and the 2027 edition will run May 14-15.
The return was revealed at TIFFCOM in Tokyo, during a conference on how Japan can forge new international partnerships after its stint as Country of Honor in Cannes. Alexandra Zakharchenko, head of industry programs at the Cannes Film Market, was among the panelists.
“The success of Japan, Country of Honor showed what can happen when a focused national presence creates lasting opportunities for the industry. The Japan IP Market is one of those outcomes: a collaboration that extends beyond a single edition and gives Japanese intellectual properties greater access to international partners,” said Guillaume Esmiol, executive director of the Cannes Film Market. “I’m delighted that we are continuing this work with TIFFCOM to create more opportunities for rights holders to connect with international producers and partners, develop new adaptations and bring their stories to global audiences.”
The Japan IP Market first ran in May 2026, one of the initiatives tied to Japan’s turn as Country of Honor at the Cannes Film Market. It put Japanese rights holders in the same room as industry professionals from abroad via pitches, one-on-one meetings and industry discussions. Kadokawa, Shochiku and Toei Company were among the companies taking part. The speaker lineup included Fujimura Tetsu, executive producer of “One Piece” and founder and CEO of Filosophia, Inc.
“The Japan IP Market is about creating the right conditions for business opportunities between Japanese rights holders and international companies,” said Zakharchenko. “By bringing them together in Cannes, we can help turn growing interest in Japanese content into concrete adaptation deals and acquisitions, while fostering new collaboration opportunities.”
Shiina Yasushi, executive adviser at UNIJAPAN and CEO of TIFFCOM, said the partnership with the Cannes market plays an important role for Japan’s audiovisual industry. He described the Cannes market as the biggest market attached to any film festival in the world. “Meeting the international professionals who gather there and creating together with them is the key to nurturing Japanese IP into global content,” he said.
Ikeda Kaori, managing director of TIFFCOM, said the first edition had shown how keen producers and partners worldwide are on Japanese IP. “Through the continued partnership linking Cannes in May with the Tokyo IP Market in October, we are pleased to offer more professionals the opportunity to meet Japanese rights holders directly and discover the rich diversity of Japanese IP,” she said.
The 2027 roster of companies and the rest of the program will be unveiled in the months ahead.
§
Mexico’s beloved Guillermo del Toro descended on the 24thMorelia Film Festival like the rockstar he is, greeted by hordes of shrieking fans that impressed even the most jaded in the crowd.
In town to present the much-anticipated 3D Re-Release of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” he was everywhere all at once, holding a masterclass where tickets were as elusive as a seat at Cannes that went on for nearly three hours and a free-wheeling press conference that extended past its time limit.
It was his third time at the fest, 20 years after his multi-Oscar winning “Pan’s Labyrinth’ first played there and years later with his 2018 best picture Academy Award winner “The Shape of Water.”
Before the presser kicked off, Del Toro, an Honorary Doctorate recipient from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), received the Filmoteca UNAM Medal, an honor also bestowed on Alfonso Cuarón, in town to support his son Jonas Cuarón’s opening night film, “Campeón Gabacho,” which he produced.
Alongside Del Toro were festival director Daniela Michel, “Pan’s Labyrinth” producer Bertha Navarro, his then young lead Ivana Baquero and DP Guillermo Navarro, who took home the cinematography Oscar for his stunning work on the anti-fascist fable.
Reflecting on a question posed midway through the press conference about what has stayed the same and what has changed over the 20 years since “Pan’s Labyrinth,” del Toro responded with tears.
“The state of our species and society today goes beyond anything we could have imagined back then. But I recognize the same sadness and despair. It pains me deeply to see one, two, or three generations fail the next. We’re handing down a world in ruins, morally, socially and spiritually fractured, with the very fabric that once allowed us to tell fables and parables falling apart.”
Asked whether he knew beforehand if “Pan’s Labyrinth” would be well received, Del Toro recounted how his collaborations with both Navarros sustained him through all the challenges they faced.
“We embarked on an adventure that was financially horrifying but cinematically beautiful,” he said.
“You never know how a film will be received. We only found out when we screened it for the first time at Cannes. We got that famous standing ovation that lasted more than 22 minutes, and from that moment on, everything changed. It changed our lives.”
“I think ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ marked a before and after for me. In terms of creative freedom, possibilities and everything else, I’m where I am today because of that film. But none of it would have been possible without the faith of my immediate family, Bertha and Guillermo.”
Said DP Navarro: “Guillermo and I share the belief that cinematic language is storytelling through images that convey emotion and narrative. ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ is the ultimate expression of that. The camera is constantly searching, discovering and communicating.”
“It was also an incredibly difficult shoot. We had a limited budget, had to find unconventional solutions and took risks that could easily have failed. But we gambled and we won. Without a doubt, it’s my best film, and I hold that experience close to my heart. I hope new generations will continue to discover and appreciate it. And now, 20 years later, it returns. Olé!”
Producer Navarro, who also backed Del Toro’s career-launching feature debut “Cronos” and his much-lauded “The Devil’s Backbone,” said: “When he gave me the screenplay for ‘Cronos,’ I was absolutely fascinated. Talent shines, and you have to know how to recognize that light. That’s what I saw in Guillermo.”
“It’s been an incredible privilege to have made those three great films with Guillermo. I’ve produced many films throughout my life, but those three hold a much deeper significance for me. They changed my life.”
Baquero concurred: “’Pan’s Labyrinth’ undoubtedly opened doors for me, both into the genre and in my career. We’ve talked this afternoon about how much the film changed our lives, professionally and personally. For me, acting went from being a hobby – I had worked before ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ – to becoming my profession. Without that film, I might not be here today. It unquestionably marked a turning point in my career.”
Reflecting on its impact on young audiences. Del Toro noted: “There’s an urgency and a fragility and ferocity that coexist in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth.’ And somehow, I think it’s an urgent moment to speak, for the film to speak to a new audience.”
Local politics also crept into the conference, with a journalist asking him what he would say to the young people protesting in his hometown of Guadalajara over its current issues of contaminated water, repression and the alleged kidnapping of protesters on Oct. 11.
He responded:“This morning at my masterclass, I gave young people the floor to speak about these issues. It’s terrifying that something so fundamental should have to be fought for instead of being resolved through basic humanity and responsible leadership.”
“I said it clearly: “Their voices must be heard, and I stand with them 100%. It’s unacceptable that this remains unresolved or that anyone would try to silence them. Speaking out, protesting, and demanding a solution are fundamental rights – anytime, anywhere.”
The Morelia Film Festival began on Oct. 16 and wraps Oct. 25.
