TOKYO: Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda’s new film, “Monster,” is in competition for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which opens May 16, organizers said Thursday.

Koreeda previously won the top award at the French festival in 2018 with “Shoplifters.”

Monster is the seventh film to be submitted by the director for the award, and the first since his South Korean film “Broker” last year, which won the Best Actor award.

Monster is a drama that depicts the search for a “monster” from the perspectives of a mother who loves her son, a teacher who loves her students and two children with a secret.

The screenplay was written by Yuji Sakamoto, known for the television drama “Quartet,” and the music was made by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died last month.

The film will be released in Japan on June 2.

Also in competition for the Palme d’Or is “Perfect Days” by German director Wim Wenders, which takes place at a public restroom in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. Japanese actor Koji Yakusho plays a janitor in the film.

“Kubi,” a period drama by Japanese director Takeshi Kitano, will be screened under Cannes Premiere, a new section of the film festival created in 2021. It is Kitano’s first new work in six years.

JIJI Press