Acclaimed Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto has completed international feature Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?, starring Rodney Hicks, Geoffrey Rush and Tatyana Ali.
The film is based on the experiences of Allen Nelson, an African American veteran of the Vietnam War, detailing his wartime experiences and the struggles he faced upon returning home.
Shot on location in the US, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan, the film was produced by Tokyo-based Kinoshita Group and Kino Films, which will distribute the film in Japan. A local release has been set for 2026.
The cast is led by Hicks in the title role. He is best known as an original and closing cast member of Broadway musical Rent and appeared in 2025 Netflix series Forever. Oscar-winning actor Rush plays VA physician Dr. Daniels while Ali (The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air) takes the role of Nelson’s wife, Linda. The cast also includes newcomer Mark Merphy as the young Nelson in flashback.
Nelson delivered more than 1,200 lectures across Japan about his experiences of war before his death in 2009, and he has been chronicled in numerous Japanese books, TV shows and 2005 manga Nelson-san, Anata wa Hito o Koroshimashitaka (Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?).
The film marks the third instalment in Tsukamoto’s unofficial 20th century war trilogy after Fires On The Plain, which played in Competition at Venice in 2014, and Shadow Of Fire, which was selected for Venice Horizons in 2023 and won the Netpac Award.
It also marks Tsukamoto’s second film made outside Japan, following Tetsuo: The Bullet Man, which also screened in Competition at Venice in 2009. Further titles by the filmmaker to play on the Lido include Gemini, A Snake Of June, Vital, Kotoko and Killing, the latter in Competition.
Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? has been developed over the past seven years. “When I was adapting Fires On The Plain for the screen, I read a wide range of materials and books, but the most terrifying work of non-fiction I encountered was Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?,” says Tsukamoto. “Allen Nelson killed many people during the Vietnam War. He was plagued by the aftermath of the war for the rest of his life. This book, in which he poured out his crimes and the life that followed without holding anything back, has stayed with me ever since and is deeply etched in my heart.”
Tsukamoto is also a prolific actor, appearing in his own productions, genre titles such as Shin Godzilla and Shin Kamen Rider, and Martin Scorsese’s Silence.
Speaking to Screen about his upcoming film, Tsukamoto said: “Since I don’t fully grasp the nuances of native English, I invited Tim [Monich], the dialect coach who worked with me on Silence, to join the project and provide all the actors with authentic language coaching. He is well aware that even among Americans, linguistic nuances vary depending on where they live and the environment in which they were raised.”
Regarding his cast, the filmmaker said: “Rodney Hicks was cast on the spot after his first audition. His approach to the role was sincere, meticulous, and trustworthy. His concentration on set was truly remarkable. Yet he always exuded kindness and warmth.
“From the very beginning, I was thrilled to have the great Geoffrey Rush join us. He was precise in every detail, which made me nervous. But at the same time, he possessed a bottomless charm that came through in his performance, and he portrayed Dr. Daniel wonderfully.
“Tatyana Ali fought her way through the scenes on set until genuine emotions emerged. In her, I sensed the potential to become anything.
“Mark Merphy, who played the young Allen, has a natural talent. Everything about him felt so natural, and he brought a raw, visceral intensity to the role of a young man facing terrifying experiences on the battlefield.”
The announcement was timed to coincide with National Vietnam War Veterans Day in the US on March 29.
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