EXCLUSIVE: Hirokazu Koreeda’s banner Bunbuku is joining forces with Johnny Depp’s In.2 Film and Italy’s Tribune Pictures to produce Kohki Hasei’s second feature Kutheran.
Japanese filmmaker Hasei has also written the story, which centres on a young woman of American and Okinawan heritage who risks her dream of visiting her late father’s homeland in the US to help a migrant worker.
Hasei is working with UK casting director Des Hamilton (28 Years Later) to attach the international roles, and together will conduct extensive street casting. The film is set to shoot on location in Okinawa in spring 2027.
The dialogue will be split between English and Japanese, with select lines in the Okinawan dialect. Kutheran means “never give up” in Okinawan.
The Japan-Italy-UK co-production will be produced by Bunbuku’s Miyuki Fukuma , Tribune Pictures’ Robert MacLean and Stephen Deuters, and Stephen Malit for IN.2 Film. Depp will serve as executive producer.
Hasei is known for 2015 feature debut Blanka, inspired by his mentor Emir Kusturica, which premiered at Venice, winning the Magic Lantern Award and Sorriso Diverso Award. After screening at more than 70 film festivals across 40 countries, it received the Kaneto Shindo Award for outstanding new director in 2017.
He previously directed 2010 short Godog, which portrays the everyday lives of street children living in a landfill in Manila, and 2012 short Tears In The Desert, depicting people living among cemeteries and mountains of trash in the Philippines.
“As global military tensions rise, Okinawa stands at the forefront of potential conflict in Asia,” said the filmmaker. “Current military expansion continues despite local opposition, creating contemporary trauma echoing historical wounds, revealing Okinawa as a microcosm of the world today.”
Bunbuku was launched in 2014 by Japanese auteur Koreeda, whose Sheep In A Box is playing in Competition at Cannes. The Tokyo-based production company’s credits include Shoplifters, Monster and A Pale View Of Hills.
In.2 Film is Depp’s UK-based banner behind Jeanne du Barry and upcoming feature Ebenezer, led by the Pirates Of The Caribbean star, and his feature directorial debut Modi: Three Days On The Wing Of Madness.
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