There are cars you drive, and then there are cars that quietly stitch themselves into the fabric of your life. Mazda’s latest documentary, “Goodbye RX-7: Saying Farewell To A Dear Friend,” understands that distinction with remarkable clarity—and the world has taken notice.
Premiering to critical acclaim, the 10-minute film has secured a rare double victory at the 4th International Auto Film Festa – Powered by Dunlop, held in Tokyo. Standing tall among 519 entries from 73 countries, it claimed both the Grand Prix and the Team UKYO Award, the latter presented by former Formula One driver Ukyo Katayama. It’s the first time in the festival’s history that a single film has achieved this dual recognition, a feat that says as much about its emotional gravity as its cinematic craft.
Directed by Rinichi Ogawa, the film tells the story of Naoko Nishimoto, an 80-year-old woman preparing to surrender her driver’s licence—and, with it, her beloved Mazda RX-7 after 25 years of companionship. What unfolds is not simply a farewell to a machine, but a quiet meditation on memory, independence, and the passage of time. The RX-7, in this telling, is less a vehicle and more a co-author of a life well lived.
Ogawa described the project as deeply moving, shaped by the weight of Nishimoto’s decision and the enduring bond she shared with her car. That sentiment clearly resonated with the IAFF jury. Festival founder Yoshiyuki Shimizu noted that this year’s winning films collectively reaffirmed a powerful idea: cars are not just tools of mobility, but vessels of culture, identity, and emotion. In Ogawa’s work, that philosophy finds one of its purest expressions.
The festival itself has entered a new chapter with Dunlop joining as title partner, reinforcing its mission to spotlight automotive storytelling on a global stage. Dunlop CEO Akito Makino emphasised the brand’s commitment to celebrating the cultural and creative dimensions of car culture, a theme that runs through this year’s winners.
To mark the occasion, all 19 finalist films—including Mazda’s award-winning piece—will be screened in a continuous loop at the Mazda Trans Aoyama studio in central Tokyo from May 12 to 17, offering audiences an immersive window into the diverse narratives shaping automotive cinema today.
Elsewhere, the newly introduced Dunlop Tyre Award was presented to “A Day in Rothenburg, Germany in 1:87 Scale” by Japanese director Kenji Yokokawa, a film that transforms miniature worlds into something unexpectedly expansive. The Best Cars of the Year accolade went to “Driven: Maserati 300S: Masterpiece in Motion,” directed by British filmmaker Sam Hancock, while “A Drive Through Time” by Luxembourg’s Lukas Grevis earned recognition from Auto Bild Japan. The ProNews Award rounded out the honours, going to the Romanian animated film “Mannequin,” a striking exploration of crash test dummies and the fragile human stories they represent.
Yet, amid this diverse and imaginative field, Mazda’s RX-7 tribute lingers longest. It doesn’t shout for attention. Instead, it hums softly, like a rotary engine at idle—steady, emotional, and impossible to ignore once you’re listening.
