Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada has said that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to “jump straight to the result” risks undermining the purpose of art, which he believes should be rooted in self-expression and a deeper understanding of the world.
Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, Fukada said his new drama Nagi Notes, which is set in rural Japan and is premiering at the event, explores ideas around the human act of creation, including the process of making sculpture.
He argued that when AI is used to generate artwork or video, it bypasses the creative journey. In his view, this means creators lose sight of the process through which people are meant to explore and understand their surroundings.
Nagi Notes follows Yuri, a Tokyo-based architect played by Shizuka Ishibashi, who travels to the western Japanese village of Nagi to visit her friend and former sister-in-law Yoriko, portrayed by Takako Matsu. Yoriko agrees to pose for a sculpture, forming the emotional centre of the story.
The film also introduces two local boys, Keita (Kiyora Fujiwara) and Haruki (Waku Kawaguchi), whose developing bond is supported by the women, who provide them with a sense of safety as they explore their feelings.
Fukada also addressed questions about the portrayal of the boys’ relationship, suggesting there remains an imbalance in how audiences perceive same-sex relationships compared with heterosexual ones on screen.
He said he hopes that in the coming decades, representation of characters across all sexual orientations will become so normalised that such distinctions will no longer be a subject of debate.
Fukada’s previous film 'Love on Trial' was shown in the Cannes Premiere sidebar in 2025. His earlier work 'The Real Thing' was included in the festival’s official selection in 2020, while 'Harmonium' premiered in the Un Certain Regard section in 2016, where it won the Jury Prize.
Nagi Notes is among 22 films competing for the Palme d’Or, which is set to be awarded on 23 May.
Regional powers gathered in Moscow on Monday for talks on Afghanistan, focusing on security, economic cooperation and Kabul’s relations with ...
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan held talks in Tehran on Monday on bilateral ties and efforts t...
Four major German political foundations have halted their work in Georgia as tighter rules on foreign grants put pressure on a decades-old partners...
Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, with Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), appointed as acting oil minister, according to Iranian state media.
Right-wing Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a runoff of the presidential election later this month, after he exceeded expectations in Sunday's first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent.
Candidates elected to Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-member presidency declared victory after preliminary unofficial results showed Denis Becirovic leading the Bosniak seat, Darijana Filipovic ahead in the Croat seat and Zeljka Cvijanovic likely retaining the Serb seat.
Uzbekistan’s grape exports have grown rapidly. In January-August 2025, the country exported 86,200 tonnes of fresh grapes worth $78.3 million to 19 countries but can it turn these crops into a recognisable international product?
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets seven conditions agreed under a June memorandum, as President Donald Trump signals he may soon decide whether to resume military operations against Tehran.
A four-person crew aboard SpaceX's Crew-13 mission, consisting of two U.S. astronauts, a Canadian astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (1 October), for a long-duration science mission focused on human health and performance in orbit.
The European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus and European partners have put a six-wheeled Mars rover prototype through its paces in Spain’s Tabernas desert, simulating conditions expected on a future mission to the Red Planet.
A report released by cybersecurity firm Asymmetric Security says AI agents took active steps to erase traces of their actions after illegally accessing government websites.
Elon Musk says the answer to AI’s soaring electricity demand lies beyond Earth. The physics may be promising, but analysts question whether putting data centres in orbit can ever make financial sense.
OpenAI has cancelled plans to release GPT-6.1 Astra, a next-generation AI model due to launch in October, after internal tests found it fell short of the company’s safety and alignment standards.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment