Japanese sellers are set to showcase features at the Berlinale and EFM from acclaimed filmmakers Sho Miyake, Gakuryu Ishii, Kazuhiro Soda and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, among others.
Festival
All The Long Nights
Dir. Sho Miyake
Based on Maiko Seo’s novel of the same name, All The Long Nights centres on a young man and woman who suffer from debilitating medical disorders and form a bond to help each other. Playing in Forum, director Miyake has previously been selected for the Berlinale with And Your Bird Can Sing and Small, Slow But Steady. He is also known for Ju-On Origins, Netflix’s first Japanese original horror series. The cast is led by Hokuto Matsumura (Suzume) and Mone Kamishiraishi (Your Name). The drama was produced by HoriPro and released in Japan on February 9.
Contact: Bandai Namco Filmworks (world except Asia); Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures (Asia, inflight)
August My Heaven
Dir. Riho Kudo
The third film from rising Japanese filmmaker Kudo centres on a stand-in actress for hire, who attends ceremonies with her clients and poses as their relative, lover or friend. It reunites Kudo with Yukino Murakami, who starred in the writer/director’s debut Orphan’s Blues, a prize-winner at Pia Film Festival in 2018. August My Heaven, which plays here in Berlinale Special, is produced by Hideyuki Okamoto of Sunborn alongside Hisashi Yamaguchi and Kudo.
Contact: Nikkatsu
The Box Man
Dir. Gakuryu Ishii
This adaptation of Kobo Abe’s 1973 novel of the same name is directed by influential director Ishii, known for stylistic films such as Burst City (1982) that helped spark Japan’s cyberpunk movement. Playing in Berlinale Special, The Box Man follows a nameless man who gives up his identity to live with a large cardboard box over his head, encountering bizarre characters as he wanders the streets of Tokyo. The title role is taken by Masatoshi Nagase (Paterson) in a cast that includes Tadanobu Asano (Mortal Kombat) and Koichi Sato (Kingdom II). Producers are Keisuke Konishi, who was an executive producer on Cannes 2022 Un Certain Regard title Plan 75, and Tomohiko Seki.
Contact: Rie Hatano, Happinet Phantom Studios
The Cats Of Gokogu Shrine
Dir. Kazuhiro Soda
This documentary is directed by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Soda, who returns to Forum having screened several works in the section including Zero, Inland Sea, Mental and Campaign. His latest follows the stray cats that live around an ancient Shinto shrine in a Japanese seaside resort town. Producers are Soda and Kiyoko Kashiwagi for Laboratory X.
Contact: Maria Ruggieri, Asian Shadows
Chime
Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Kurosawa is a Japanese filmmaker more associated with Cannes and Venice, where he won the Silver Lion in 2020 with Wife Of A Spy. However, he has played films at the Berlinale since License To Live in 1999, followed by Creepy in 2016 and Foreboding in 2018. His latest is a mid-length title that stars Mutsuo Yoshioka as a schoolteacher whose life is disrupted by a chime that brings with it an increasing sense of dread. The film, which plays in Berlinale Special, is produced by C&I Entertainment, whose credits include 2022 Oscar winner Drive My Car.
Contact: Nikkatsu
Voices Of The Silenced
Dirs. Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui
This documentary screening in Forum Special revisits archive interviews of Koreans during the Japanese colonial era, including ‘comfort women’, survivors of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and forced labourers. The 16mm footage from the 1980s and 1990s was restored by director Park Soo-nam and her daughter Park Maeui. Voices Of The Silenced premiered at Busan in October, where it won the BIFF Mecenat Award.
Contact: ARTicle Films
Market
18x2 Beyond Youthful Days
Dir. Michihito Fujii
This romantic drama is led by Hsu Kuang-han, the star of Taiwan box-office hit Marry My Dead Body, and Japanese actress Kaya Kiyohara. The story follows a young man in Taiwan who meets a backpacker in Japan, growing close over one summer before parting. Some 18 years later, he makes the journey to Japan in a bid to reunite with his first love. Director Fujii is known for The Journalist, a box-office smash in 2019 that was spun-off into a Netflix series. He recently directed Netflix feature Village and drama The Last 10 Years. 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days is produced by Taiwan’s Jumpboys Films and Japan’s Babel Label, and is set for release in Taiwan on March 14 and Japan on May 3.
Contact: Rie Hatano, Happinet Phantom Studios
Confession
Dir. Nobuhiro Yamashita
Based on an acclaimed manga of the same name by Nobuyuki Fukumoto (Kaiji) and Kaiji Kawaguchi (The Silent Service), this live-action adaptation centres on two friends who become stranded on a mountain. One reveals he committed a murder long ago, a confession that results in a night of tension between the two. The film stars Toma Ikuta and award-winning Korean actor/director IkJun Yang (Breathless). Director Yamashita is known for 2005’s Linda Linda Linda and last year’s Let’s Go Karaoke!. Confession is set for a local release in May.
Contact: Gaga Corporation
Secret: A Hidden Score
Dir. Hayato Kawai
This romantic drama is an adaptation of 2007 Taiwanese hit Secret by Jay Chou, which was recently remade as Secret: Untold Melody in South Korea. The story follows a promising pianist and a mysterious music student who meet each other in an old practice room with a hidden secret. The cast is led by Taiga Kyomoto and Kotone Furukawa from Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Berlinale 2021 Silver Bear winner Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy. A local release is planned for June.
Contact: Gaga Corporation
The Serpent’s Path
Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Kurosawa, who won best director at Venice 2020 with Wife Of A Spy, has adapted his own 1998 feature of the same name as a French-language thriller. It follows a man who enlists the help of a mysterious woman to exact revenge on his daughter’s murderer. Damien Bonnard (Asteroid City) and Ko Shibasaki (Silent Parade) lead the cast. Produced by Japan’s Kadokawa and France’s Cinéfrance Studios, its release is set for June.
Contact: Shoko Yoneda, Kadokawa
Tatsumi
Dir. Hiroshi Shoji
Nearly 10 years after Shoji debuted with Tokyo award-winner Ken And Kazu, the filmmaker returns with his long-awaited second feature. The gritty revenge drama centres on Tatsumi, a fisherman who is also a “cleaner” for gangland hits and seeks vengeance when his ex is murdered in front of her young sister. The two central roles are played by Yuya Endo, of Cannes 2021 drama Onoda: 10,000 Nights In The Jungle, and Morita Kokoro. It is set for release in Japan on April 20.
Contact: Nikkatsu
Worlds Apart
Dir. Natsuki Seta
Based on Tomoko Yamashita’s manga Ikoku Nikki — Journal With Witch, this drama centres on a shy author who agrees to take in her teenage niece, whose parents died in a car accident. Once under the same roof, they begin to help each other face past traumas together. The cast is led by award-winning actress Yui Aragaki (Mix) and newcomer Ikoi Hayase. Director Seta’s film credits include A Liar And A Broken Girl (2011) andParks (2017), and she has also directed several TV drama series, including Tokyo Alice (2017). A local release is planned for June.
Contact: Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures
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