Movie director Tetsuichiro Tsuta, a graduate of Tokyo Polytechnic University’s Department of Imaging Art, is the first Japanese to win the Hong Kong International Film Festival’s top award for his film “Black Ox”

TOKYO--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- The film “Black Ox,” directed by Tetsuichiro Tsuta, a graduate of the Department of Imaging Art, Faculty of Arts, at Tokyo Polytechnic University (President: Hiroaki Yoshino; Address: Nakano-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter, “TPU”), won the top prize, the Firebird Award, at the 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival.

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A scene from the film “Black Ox”

At the 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival, held from Thursday, April 10, to Monday, April 21, 2025, the film “Black Ox,” directed by Tetsuichiro Tsuta, a graduate of the Department of Imaging Art, Faculty of Arts, at TPU, was awarded the top prize, the Firebird Award, in the Young Cinema Competition, which is the first in Japanese film history.
“Black Ox” is a film inspired by the “Ten Ox-Herding Pictures,” depicting the path to enlightenment in Zen Buddhism in ten illustrations, and filmed using 70 mm film for some scenes for the first time in Japanese feature films. The movie also uses the music of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who expressed his intent to participate before his passing.

The jury reviews this movie: “This artistic creation, emerging from diverse cultural backgrounds, weaves together unique philosophical and aesthetic perspectives, sharp historical insight, and vivid depictions of nature. It constructs an unexpected and original cinematic world—one that draws the viewer into a specific time and place, yet paradoxically elevates the experience into something universal and transcendent.”

Director Tsuta said, “I believe that my experiences as a student in creating movies using films led to this honor. While the film industry is heavily digital, the essence of movies is now and always has been analog film, and this is not going to change in the future. ‘Onko-chishin’: learn from the wisdom of the past. I hope you will be able to experience this work, filled with a love for analog film, in a cinema.”

“Black Ox” is scheduled for screening at the Mooov Film Festival in Belgium from Saturday, April 26, to Thursday, May 1, 2025, and at the Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea from Wednesday, April 30, to Friday, May 9, 2025, and will be released in cinemas nationwide in Japan in January 2026.

Tetsuichiro Tsuta

Born in Miyoshi, Tokushima Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Imaging Art, Faculty of Arts, at Tokyo Polytechnic University in 2007. After graduation, he worked on producing films independently while working part-time at the Waseda Shochiku Movie Theater in Takadanobaba. In 2009, his “Islands of Dreams” was selected for the Pia Film Festival and received the Audience Award. In 2013, his “The Tale of Iya” was awarded a Special Mention at the 26th Tokyo International Film Festival. His latest, “Black Ox,” is due for nationwide release in January 2026.

Tokyo Polytechnic University

TPU’s origin dates back to the founding of the Konishi Professional School of Photography in 1923. From its start, it has offered an education that fuses technology and art, and in 2023, TPU celebrated its centenary.
It has two faculties: the Faculty of Engineering, in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture (Information Technology Course, Mechanical Engineering Course, Electrical and Electronics Course, Architecture Course), and the Faculty of Arts in Nakano-ku, Tokyo (Departments of Photography, Imaging Art, Design, Interactive Media, Animation, Manga, and Games).
URL https://www.t-kougei.ac.jp/

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