Four in-development films from young Japanese producers and directors — including a project produced by Hirokazu Kore-eda — are being showcased at ACFM by Japan’s Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO) and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
That Drive will be the feature directorial debut of Miyoh Yamaura, who works as an assistant to Palme d’Or-winner Kore-eda, and whose short Moles played at the Asia International Youth Film Festival in 2019. The film, based on a real incident from Yamaura’s life, centres on a fatal car accident and asks “how an offender can ever atone for the past,” the director told Screen. The project, which is in development, is produced by Kore-eda and Jun Ohinata (Any Crybabies Around?) at Kore-eda’s own Bunbuku.
The project has secured about 15% of its $500,000 budget and is looking for partners for financing, post-production and more. It is anticipated to shoot in late 2025 for a November 2026 release. Yamaura “finds the light” in dark stories, Ohinata told Screen. “Because it’s a personal story for her, her motivation is very high.”
Distance will be the new project from director Takayuki Fukata, who worked as an assistant director on Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Berlinale Silver Bear-winning Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy. The project is about a woman who travels to Kiso, a historical town in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture, while considering divorce.
“Kiso feels like a crossroads, a place where people meet and come to rest,” said Fukata, whose short Itchan And Satchan was featured at San Sebastian in 2022. His producer is Chiho Murakami from Cogitoworks, which produced Venice’s Giornate degli Autori 2024 opener Super Happy Forever.
Murakami is also producing Shunrai, a feature project from director Ren Sudo. The film, which is in pre-production and seeking funding, is set during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and revolves around three women caught up in a love triangle as militarism and censorship begin to overtake the nation.
Sudo cites Céline Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire as inspiration and said he hopes to depict “war from women’s point of view” as well as “Japanese beauty and soul”. Sudo has directed two features, including last year’s Abyss, which was featured at Nippon Connection.
Tetsuya, produced by Madoka Katsumata at Dash Co., Ltd. (Ice Cream Fever), is the new project from director Isamu Hirabayashi, whose feature Shell And Joint debuted at Moscow International Film Festival in 2019. It is about contemporary artist Tetsuya Ishida, who died in 2005 aged 31, and whose surreal art has continued to be exhibited and sold long after his death. Hirabayashi was friends with Ishida at university, he tells Screen, and the film contains many scenes direct from his memories, to the point where he himself appears in the script.
Katsumata and Hirabayashi met while working on children’s anime Shimajiro no Wao!, which was nominated for best pre-school series at the 2016 International Emmy Awards. Katsumata also produced Shell And Joint. The film is in script development, and the team is seeking funding partners at the market.
The four projects were selected by METI and VIPO to support emerging young producers on their first or second feature film who are looking for international co-production partners, said VIPO assistant manager Nahoko Yamashita.
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