“Fujiko,” the Kimura Taichi drama that Japanese actor-producer Megumi spent four years producing and starring in, departed the 28th Far East Film Festival in Udine with two prizes: the Golden Mulberry Audience Award and a shared Black Dragon press jury citation alongside Korean documentary “The Seoul Guardians.” It was a double recognition that validated a career pivot Megumi began out of necessity during the pandemic and has since turned into a personal mission. “I wanted to empower Japanese women through film,” Megumi tells Variety , citing a news report she encountered ranking Japan last globally in female self-esteem. That statistic became the animating impulse behind “Fujiko,” which follows a single mother navigating personal freedom amid the social upheaval of 1970s and ’80s Shizuoka, and draws on Taichi’s own family history. The film assembled an ensemble anchored by Yuki Katayama alongside Lily Franky, You, Issey Ogata, Kayoko Kishimoto and Tsuyoshi Ujiki, with SC Films Intl.…