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Exclusive: Rediance has acquired Chechen director Déni Oumar Pitsaev’s documentary Imago, ahead of its world premiere at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, further enhancing the international slate of the China-based sales agent.

Filmed in Georgia last summer, it marks the first-ever feature-length Chechen film selected for Cannes and sheds light on a community that has almost never been represented in cinema.

Chechnya-born Pitsaev also grew up in Kazakhstan and Russia before arriving in Paris aged 17. He is now one of very few Chechen filmmakers.

The project came about when he inherited land in Pankisi, Georgia, a valley at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains.

Exclusive: Rediance has acquired Chechen director Déni Oumar Pitsaev’s hybrid documentary Imago, ahead of its world premiere at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, further enhancing the international slate of the China-based sales agent.

Filmed in Georgia last summer, it marks the first-ever feature-length Chechen film, shedding light on a community that has almost never been represented in cinema.

Chechnya-born Pitsaev also grew up in Kazakhstan and Russia before arriving in Paris as a refugee aged 17. He is now one of very few Chechen filmmakers.

The project came about when he inherited land in Pankisi, Georgia, a valley at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains.

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 As there are few historical documents remaining, much of her life remains a mystery.

Satoko Yokohama is a Japanese film director and writer of “The Actor” (2015) and “Ito” (2021), among others. Her 5th feature, “Seaside Serendipity”, was awarded the Special Mention of the Generation Kplus International Jury at the 75th Berlinale. Daisuke Wada is a film producer from Japan who worked on such movies as “The Women in the Lakes” (2024) by Tatsushi Omori, and “Remain in Twilight” (2021) by Daigo Matsui.

On the occasion of the world premiere of “Seaside Serendipity” at the Berlin International Film Festival, they talk about the process of adapting manga into a movie, the importance of cinematic experience and other topics.

This is your fifth feature film. In each one, you have combined dramatic and comedic elements. How would you describe your style and approach to the creative process?

Satoko Yokohama: The basis of my philosophy is the love for comedy. My goal is to make people laugh and provide them with a joyful experience.

Yusuke Morii graduated from the Department of Film, now Nihon Institute of Cinema, and entered the industry as part of the production department of Shunichi Nagasaki’s The Witch of the West is Dead (2008). The screenwriter and filmmaker has also worked as an assistant director to Tatsushi Omori on the film Every Day a Good Day (2018). His directorial debut, Amiko (2022), is based on the novel Kochira Amiko by Natsuko Imamura and is selected for IFFR 2023.

On the occasion of his film screening at IFFR, we speak with him about the titular character, being a parent to such an unusual child, Kana Osawa, the reaction of the audience in Japan, and many other topics.

Amiko is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam

Why did you decide to adapt the particular novel by Natsuko Imamura?

I feel a lot of discomfort towards society and I wanted to express that particular feeling...

Summer Explorers 2019: Mini season of film based on Manga!

The annual Summer Explorers season is back – this time taking place at the British Library!

From “Inuyashiki” (いぬやしき), to “Seto and Utsumi” (セトウツミ), “Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High” (帝一の國), and :Psychic Kusuo” (斉木楠雄のΨ難), Summer Explorers 2019 : Manga Comes To Life showcases the range of plotlines that manga has provided film creatives over the years.Come and see the versatility of the influence that manga has had on Japanese cinema!

Presented and Curated by the Japan Foundation, in collaboration with the British Library.

Date: Saturday, 27 July and Sunday, 28 July 2019

Venue: British Library, Knowledge Centre Theatre, 96 Euston Road, St Pancras, London NW1

Saturday, 27 July

“Inuyashiki” (2018) by Shinsuke Sato

“Seto and Utsumi” (2016) by Tatsushi Ohmori

“Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High” (2017) by Akira Nagai

“Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High”

Sunday, 28 July

“Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High” (2017) by Akira Nagai

“The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (a.

A strangely addictive film where – apparently – nothing happens is the new work of director Tatsushi Ohmori, also sadly destined to be remembered as the last appearance of Japanese Cinema’s beloved dame, Kirin Kiki. Based on the essay “Nichinichikorekojitsu: Ocha ga Oshietekureta 15 no Shiawase” by Noriko Morishita, “Every Day a Good Day” will surprise those of the public, accustomed to Omori’s previous, more unconventional plots.

“Every Day a Good Day” is screening at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival

The film quietly follows 20 years of the life of Noriko (Haru Kuroki). Starting in 1985, we are introduced to Noriko as a 12-year-old girl returning home after attending a screening of “La Strada” with her family. Noriko is bored, predictably she didn’t enjoy the film and Omori will use Fellini’s film again, to highlight her development during the following years. Jump to 1993, she is a 20-year-old college student, still bored and indecisive about her future.