Mao Inoue, Koki Mitani win awards in the 3rd Nippon Theater Staff Film Festival

By kevin on April 22, 2012 at 5:23pm EDT

On Sunday, the awards for the 3rd Nippon Theater Staff Film Festival were presented to the winners at a ceremony in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. The awards are voted on by cinema staff members from all over Japan.

Mao Inoue took home the award for Best Actress for her performance in Izuru Narushima’s Rebirth (Youkame no Semi), playing a woman who’s forced to deal with her unusual upbringing, having been kidnapped as an infant.

Masami Nagasawa took home the Best Supporting Actress award for Love Strikes! (Moteki), but she was unable to attend due to her filming schedule. In a written statement, she referred to her immersion in the world of film as a “blissful time”.

The big winner was Koki Mitani’s comedy A Ghost of a Chance, which was responsible for three separate awards - Best Movie, Best Director, and Best Supporting actor.

Here’s the full list of awards:

Grand Chariot Award (Grand Prize):
A Ghost of a Chance

Best Actor:
Masato Sakai (My S.O. Has Depression)

Best Actress:
Mao Inoue (Rebirth)

Best Supporting Actor:
Toshiyuki Nishida (A Ghost of a Chance)

Best Supporting Actress:
Masami Nagasawa (Love Strikes!)

Grand Chariot Rookie Award:
Shota Sometani (Himizu)

Best Director:
Koki Mitani (A Ghost of a Chance)

Best Screenplay:
Kosuke Mukai (My Back Page)

Best Music:
Satoshi Takebe (From Up on Poppy Hill)

Source: Cinema Today