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First Hans Ohlms Award for Best First Film

The first Hans Ohlms Award was presented on 17.9.2023 at the Oldenburg International Film Festival during a festive gala.

The award went to Takayuki Hayashi for his film From Dawn till Noon on the Sea.

One event overshadows a small Japanese town. A schoolgirl was kidnapped and held captive for 49 days. Over the opening credits we hear the newscaster and look through a wire fence at the quiet town. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is attested via radio news on Mai, although to the surprise of the authorities, it appears that she was not abused.
When she returns to school, it soon becomes clear that the 49 days that gradually unfold in carefully woven flashbacks, were not the prison. The way back to school becomes a real ordeal for Mai. Only one classmate will talk to her: Ujie, also an outsider, an isolated boy who is regularly bullied and considered a troublemaker. Mai and Ujie try to find understanding in each other.
Takayuki Hayashi has created an elegiac coming of age film that takes us on a philosophical journey of love, forgiveness, and empathy in a world frozen in rules. An astounding experience, whose calm flow towards the finale is intoxicatingly beautiful and sublime. In Japanese No theater, Hana is the highest level of perfection that a No actor can only achieve after many years. "From Dawn till Noon at the Sea" achieves it in the infinitely beautiful scene at Noon at the Sea.

The Hollywood Reporter writes: "This tale of three troubled souls reveals Japanese filmmaker Takayuki Hayashi to be an impressive talent with his feature directorial-screenwriting debut, which should garner attention on the festival circuit and merits international arthouse exposure."