Berlin title 'While The Women Are Sleeping' sold to China, Spain

Japan’s Toei Company has sold Chinese-American director Wayne Wang’s Japanese-language film While The Women Are Sleeping to a raft of territories including Spain (Mediatres Estudio), China (Lemon Tree Media), Taiwan (Sky Digi Entertainment) and Hong Kong (Neofilms).

Starring actor-director Beat (aka Takeshi) Kitano, Hidetoshi Nishijima (Dolls) and Shioli Kutsuna (The Assassin), the film is set in a seaside resort where a novelist gets to know a mysterious older man-younger woman couple.

Based on Spanish author Javier Marias’ eponymous short story, which was published in The New Yorker magazine, the film received its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section last month.