Japanese studio Shochiku is launching a biopic of Keisuke Kinoshita, written and directed by Crayon Shin-chan director Keiichi Hara, at EFM.

The Keisuke Kinoshita Story (working title) delves into unknown stories in the life of the Japanese master director and was made to commemorate the centennial anniversary of his birth. Five Kinoshita classics are screening in Berlinale Forum to mark the centennial.

The Shochiku biopic marks the live-action debut of animation director Hara, who in addition to working on the popular Crayon Shin-chan series has credits including

Colorful and Summer Days With Coo. Ryo Kase (Like Someone In Love) plays Kinoshita, while Yuko Tanaka plays his mother and Gaku Hamada plays his assistant.

Shochiku is also introducing Fune Wo Amu, a new project from hot up-and-coming Japanese director Yuya Ishii, at EFM. Based on a best-selling novel by Shion Miura, about an eccentric young man in charge of compiling a new dictionary, the film stars Ryuhei Matsuda, Aoi Miyazaki and Joe Odagiri.