Oscar-winning Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Evil Does Not Exist" had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, impressing critics with its tale of a city-based corporation threatening a pristine rural village with a tourism project. The movie came about when composer Eiko Ishibashi asked Hamaguchi to shoot footage in the remote region for some live performances - well-timed for the director after the maelstrom around "Drive My Car" which won Best International Film in 2022. "I think the biggest thing was that I simply wanted to take a break. I honestly felt at the time that I didn't want to do much," he says. SOUNDBITES