Japan's Entertainment Farm - Fortissimo Films' producing partner on Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata - has secured Japanese distribution for the film via PiX Inc, a subsidiary of Avex Entertainment founded in December last year.

In addition, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners has come on board as a Japanese partner and Fortissimo has sold French rights to the film to ARP Selection.

Entertainment Farm and Fortissimo are co-producing the film about a modern-day Japanese family who appear quite normal on the surface but have heart-breaking secrets to hide.

Kurosawa's credits include Seance which won the Critics Prize at Cannes' Un Certain Regard in 2000, and Bright Future which screened in competition at Cannes in 2003.

Avex relaunched PiX Inc as an arthouse label last year to handle acquisition and distribution of quality films by acclaimed directors. It was previously a distribution division that handled films such as The Queen, Last Days and As It Is In Heaven. Avex Entertainment COO Mio Sato heads PiX as CEO.

Founded in 2002, Entertainment Farm is a Tokyo-based finance and production company which has so far been involved with the financing and production of ten Japanese and five American films. Its US credits include Mira Nair's The Namesake, Ethan Hawke's The Hottest State and A Thousand Years Of Good Prayers by Wayne Wang.

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