EXCLUSIVE: Japanese studio Nikkatsu has boarded Hokusai’s Daughter (working title), an upcoming historical drama from director Tatsushi Omori, and will officially launch international sales at the Cannes market.
The film stars Masami Nagasawa as Katsushika Oi (also known as O-Ei), the real-life daughter of renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, whose The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is one of Japan’s most recognisable works of art. Oi followed in her father’s footsteps as an artist and is thought to have finished most of his later paintings. As there are few historical documents remaining, much of her life remains a mystery.
The film is set for release in Japan on October 17 with distribution from Tokyo Theatre and Yoake.
Omori made his directorial debut in 2005 with The Whispering Of The Gods, which premiered at Tokyo International Film Festival and played at Locarno, and is also known for The Ravine Of Goodbye, which won the jury prize at Moscow in 2013.
Hokusai’s Daughter reunites the filmmaker with Nagasawa, who starred in his 2020 drama Mother for which she won best actress at the Japan Academy Awards. She is also known for Before We Vanish, which played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2017, and A Hundred Flowers, which screened in competition at San Sebastian in 2022, as well as Shin Ultraman, Detective Chinatown 3 and Shin Kamen Rider.
Omori has also written the screenplay, based on a book by art historian Kyoshin Iijima and manga Miss Hokusai by Hinako Sugiura. That manga was previously adapted into animated feature Miss Hokusai by Keiichi Hara in 2015, which won prizes at Annecy, Sitges and Fantasia.
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