A chance encounter becomes an adaptation
VENICE — Hirokazu Kore-eda's Look Back premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival on September 7. The film is the first live-action adaptation of work by Tatsuki Fujimoto and follows two girls whose shared commitment to drawing manga binds—and eventually separates—them.
Kore-eda said he encountered Fujimoto's 2021 manga during the pandemic and found comfort in its treatment of friendship, ambition and loss. Adapting it became, in his account, a way to thank the creator while translating a highly visual drawn work into performance and sound.
The sound of drawing carries the story
The director focused on the changing noise of a pen: uncertain scratches become confident strokes and later the quieter tapping of a digital tool. That detail turns artistic development into something audiences can hear, making labor visible rather than presenting finished pages as effortless inspiration.
Actors Natsuki Deguchi, Aju Makita, Furi Nanase and Rokka Okada trained for months in manga drawing, and some of their work appears on screen. The preparation links performance to craft, though the finished artwork also depends on the production's wider design and technical teams.
Manga now moves as global literature
Kore-eda observed that manga is now read with a seriousness once reserved for classical literature. Its global business supports that shift, but Look Back's appeal is smaller and more intimate: why people create, compare themselves with peers and continue after grief.
The portrait is a real 2025 Creative Commons photograph of Kore-eda, not an image from Look Back or its Venice premiere. No copyrighted film still or festival wire photograph has been republished here.
Limits and what to watch
Festival selection and the director's account establish the production context, not the film's eventual awards, box-office performance or how every reader will judge the adaptation.
The next development to watch is the September 12 Golden Lion decision, distribution plans and reviews after wider release.
Sources and further reading
Reuters: Kore-eda brings Look Back to Venice ↗
Venice Biennale: Official cinema program ↗