Mikado Film, Italy's long-established arthouse distributor and producer, has bought Italian distribution rights to Sofia Coppola's new film, Lost In Translation.

Lost In Translation is the second feature from Sofia Coppola after The Virgin Suicides and is being sold by Focus Features. Shot in Tokyo, it stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as strangers who meet up while visiting the city and become friends.

Other recent pick-ups for the Italian distributor include Love's Brother, which stars Giovanni Ribisi and Adam Garcia. The film, which marks Shine scriptwriter Jan Sardi's directorial debut, tells the story of an ugly guy who uses a photo of his handsome brother to convince a beautiful Italian girl to marry him. It is sold by Gary Hamilton's Arclight Films.

Also on Mikado's upcoming slate are Hanway's Young Adam, an adaptation of Alexander Trocchi 1954 existential thriller, directed by David MacKenzie and starring Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton and Peter Mullan; Oliver Stone's documentary about Fidel Castro, Comandante; Michael Winterbottom's In This World, the story of two Afghan refugees sold by The Works; and Kamchatka, the critically acclaimed Argentinian film sold by Menemsha Entertainment, starring Cecilia Roth and Ricardo Darin as a couple hiding out from the authorities with their two children after the military coup of 1976.

Mikado, which was founded by Luigi Musini and Roberto Cicutto in 1984, last year significantly pumped up its buying muscle with a cash boost from multimedia giant De Agostini.

The company currently has a local blockbuster on its hands with Italian-Turkish director Ferzan Ozpetek's Facing Windows, which last week won 11 nominations at the Italian Oscars, the Donatellos, and has earned a massive Euros 6.4m at the local box office since its February 28th release.