International sales and production company Fortissimo Films is partnering with Japan's Entertainment Farm to co-produce the tentatively titled Tokyo Sonata, to be directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Fortissimo will also handle international sales on the film.

The project is one of 25 that have been selected for this year's edition of the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF, March 20-22). Set in contemporary Tokyo, the story revolves around what appears to be a normal family, although it soon emerges that both the father and son are involved in heart-breaking deceit.

Fortissimo co-chairmen Wouter Barendrecht and Michael Werner negotiated the deal with Entertainment Farm's Yasushi Kotani and Yukie Kito, who will serve as producer.

Kurosawa, one of Japan's best known directors internationally, has credits including Bright Future, which screened in competition at Cannes in 2003, and Retribution, which screened out of competition at Venice in 2006. His earlier film, Seance, won the Critics Prize in Cannes ' Un Certain Regard section in 2000.

'We have been impressed by director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's body of work for a long time. Similarly, Entertainment Farm is a very exciting production company that we have been following for a while now,' said Fortissimo's Barendrecht on announcing the deal.

Founded in 2002, Tokyo-based finance and production outfit Entertainment Farm, has been involved in the financing of films such as the J-Horror franchise, sold internationally by Lionsgate, Mira Nair's The Namesake and the Ethan Hawke-directed The Hottest State, which also screened at Venice last year.

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