In a rare deal signed at Korea's Puchon International Film Festival (PiFan) Japanese sales and production house Klockworx marked its first licence agreement for Battlefield Baseball. The film was sold to Korean indie distributor Mirovision.

Battlefield Baseball, which features in PiFan's World fantastic Cinema and Industry Screenings sections, is a live action adaptation of a well known 'Manga' comic book. It was directed by first-time director Yudai Yamaguchi, a protegee of Versus director Ryuhei Kitamura.

"We know it appeals to a certain sub-culture in Japan and are hoping to tap into a similar vein in other countries," said Klockworx executive Kana Koido. "Korea where baseball is a popular sport is a natural first sale. We are in advanced negotiations for the US and Germany and hope to be able to announce them in a week or so."

Koido also completed a bunch of sales on Miike Takashi's recent film Gozu, which was one of the highlights of the Directors' Fortnight section at Cannes this year. The Yakuza drama was sold to A-Film for the Benelux region, Metro-Tartan for the UK, I Oh New Media for Germany and Pretty Pictures for France. Klockworx is itself handling the release in Japan.

"There are very few independent sales companies in Japan. We are handling films, which emerge from a new conception of Japanese cinema. We see a big future for this kind of film, but are modest enough to know that we are still learning every day," said Koido