Graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts, Hamaguchi Ryusuke achieved international acknowledgement at an early stage, with his graduate project Passion selected into the 2008 Festival de San Sebastián, followed by receiving Special Mention for the Script and Best Actress for his epic chronicle Happy Hour at the Locarno Film Festival in 2015. At the age of 39, Hamaguchi made his first appearance at Cannes with Asako I & II, which solidified his reputation as the most creative Japanese director of his time in succession to Japan contemporary cinema giants Kore-eda Hirokazu and Kawase Naomi. 

2021 marked a phenomenal year of Hamaguchi’s career. After winning the Berlin Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, he proceeded to astonish the international film society with his recent production inspired by Murakami Haruki's novel Drive My Car, taking home numerous critics awards, the Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture–Non-English Language and the Academy Award for Best International Film; unquestionably an Auteur that cinephiles won’t miss.

Hamaguchi Ryusuke has numerously mentioned his profound admiration of director Edward Yang’s films. In correspondence with Hamaguchi’s anticipated appearance at the “A One and A Two: Edward Yang Retrospective” exhibition forum, a selection of his films will be screened at TFAI this month to highlight the director’s creative imprints, shared by the Auteur himself.