Photo/Illutration Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi speaks at a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Sept. 12 after returning to Japan from Venice. (Shigetaka Kodama)

Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi has returned to Japan from the Venice International Film Festival where he won the Silver Lion award for his film “Evil Does Not Exist.”

Hamaguchi is the second Japanese director, following the legendary Akira Kurosawa, to win official awards at all three of the world’s major film festivals--the Berlin International Film Festival, the Cannes International Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival.

“I feel humbled to be mentioned alongside such a revered name,” Hamaguchi said at a news conference on Sept. 12 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. The film’s leading actor, Hitoshi Omika, also attended.

“Kurosawa’s films are overwhelming. Their scale is different from mine,” the director said humbly.

Hamaguchi won all three major film festival awards in three years, a feat that took Kurosawa almost 30 years to achieve.

“Those 30 years are proof that Kurosawa consistently produced high-quality work for a long time,” Hamaguchi said. “I also want to keep making films as long as I can, regardless of whether they receive critical success.”

His latest film got started when Eiko Ishibashi, who composed the music for his previous work, “Drive My Car,” asked him to produce a video for her live performances. The project then developed into the feature film.

“This project, which started from scratch, was recognized, and I feel like I was encouraged to continue to work diligently,” Hamaguchi said.

The story is about a small town in Nagano Prefecture, which is surrounded by natural beauty, but gets shaken up by a plan to build a leisure facility.

The film is scheduled for release in Japan during the Golden Week holidays next year.

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