News

Film Movement has taken U.S. rights to Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers” which is Japan’s entry for the international feature film race at the Oscars.

The affecting family drama was part of Cannes 2020’s Official Selection and went on to play at Toronto, San Sebastian and Chicago film festivals. “True Mothers” will have a theatrical rollout in 2021, followed by release on all home entertainment and digital platforms.

Penned by Kawase and based on Mizuki Tsujimura’s bestselling novel of the same name, “True Mothers” tells the story of a young couple, Satoko and her husband Kiyokazu, who after a long and painful experience with fertility treatment decide to adopt a child. Six years later, they get a threatening phone call from a woman pretending to be the biological mother of the child and threatening to extort money from them.

“We’re thrilled to acquire Naomi’s latest masterwork,...

Paris-based company Playtime and Japanese outfit Kino Intl. have boarded “Comes Morning” (“Asa ga Kuru”), the next project by revered Japanese director Naomi Kawase. The film started shooting last month in Tokyo.

Penned by Kawase and based on Mizuki Tsujimura’s bestselling novel of the same name, “Comes Morning” tells the story of a young couple, Satoko and her husband, Kiyokazu, who after a long and painful experience with fertility treatment decide to adopt a child. Six years later, they get a threatening phone call from a woman named Hikari, who pretends to be the biological mother of the child and who is ready to extort money from them.

“Everyone is somebody’s ‘child’ and was given birth [to] by ‘mother.’ And because of this fact, the core of this story will shake people’s heart, I believe,” said Kawase in a statement. “There lies the beginning of the world, seen...

Previous organiser Office Kitano withdrew from the festival earlier this year.

Japanese conglomerate Kinoshita Group has taken over the management and partial funding of Tokyo Filmex after its previous organiser Office Kitano withdrew from the festival earlier this year.

Office Kitano, the agency and production company co-founded by leading actor-filmmaker Takeshi Kitano, had managed the festival since its launch in 2000. However, the company is being restructured after Kitano announced in March that he was quitting to go independent.

As representing Kitano brought in a large proportion of Office Kitano’s revenue, the company has now scaled back production and is...

Japanese property to entertainment group, Kinoshita has come to the rescue of the annual Tokyo FILMeX film festival. The festival recently lost its principal supporter following the restructuring of Office Kitano.

Kinoshita, which owns nursing homes and retail properties, and has entertainment businesses including distributor Kino Films and the Dongyu Club talent agency, is expected to take on both a financial and management role. The next edition of the festival will now go ahead, as normal, Nov. 17-24, this year.

Office Kitano is the production company and talent management firm controlled by director Takeshi Kitano, who also appears under the name Beat Takeshi when performing as an actor or comedian. In March this year Kitano announced that he would quit Office Kitano, which he founded in 1992. As the company earned much of its revenues from representing Kitano, his withdrawal has led to job losses at Office Kitano and the scaling...