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While J-horror certainly experienced its peak in the late 1990s, even in 2025 there is no shortage of features competing for a spot in the prestigious realm of works such as “Ringu” and “Ju-On”. Director Ryota Kondo is one of the latest filmmakers attempting this ambitious quest with his first feature “Missing Child Videotape” blending J-horror influences, found footage and also the director’s own predilection for true crime.

In out interview Kondo speaks about his various influences, the VHS-look of “Missing Child Videotape” and true crime.

Your feature seems to have taken a lot of inspirations, not just from other horror movies, but also from the fields of true crime, in particular perhaps Missing 411-cases. Can you take us through the inspirations for “Missing Child Videotape”?

“Missing Child Videotape” has two very important inspirations, one is a Japanese thriller called “Loveless” and the other is an American movie called...

Six days of unforgettable cinema experiences are over. In its 25th anniversary edition, the Japanese film festival Nippon Connection once again set an audience record with around 20,000 visitors over six days and confirmed its position as the film festival with the largest audience in Hesse. Most of the film and cultural events at the ten locations in Frankfurt am Main were sold out within a short space of time. Over 200 Japanese and international filmmakers and artists were on site and engaged in lively discussions with the audience.

On Sunday, June 1, the festival ended with the award ceremony. Art director and background artist Kosuke Hayashi was honored with the Nippon Rising Star Award – a prize dedicated to outstanding young talents in the Japanese film industry. Kosuke Hayashi became known as the art director of the animated film “The Imaginary” by Yoshiyuki Momose and as a background artist for Hayao Miyazaki’s...