An upcoming film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View Of Hills is to be co-produced by Lava Films, the Polish production company whose credits include Oscar-nominated The Girl With The Needle.
Lava Films will handle post-production on the mystery drama, which is directed by Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa and was shot in Japan and the UK.
It has also been confirmed that Japan’s Gaga Corporation will handle international sales and is set to introduce the title to buyers at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin next month.
Also joining the production team is Pawel Mykietyn, the Polish composer known for his work on Jerzy Skolimowski’s donkey drama EO, for which he won the soundtrack award at Cannes and European original score at the European Film Awards in 2022.
The upcoming film is presented by U-Next, Japan’s leading local streaming company, and is produced by Bunbuku, the Japanese production company founded by Hirokazu Kore-eda, in association with the UK’s Number 9 Films, led by producers Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen. The addition of Lava Films makes it a Japan-UK-Poland co-production. The Polish Film Institute and Desmar has provided further financial support.
First published in 1982, the story unravels the secrets of a Japanese widow’s memories that move between post-war Nagasaki in 1950s Japan and the end of the Cold War in 1980s England.
The lead role of Etsuko is played by Suzu Hirose, known internationally for her roles in Kore-eda films Our Little Sister and The Third Murder. Fumi Nikaido, who plays Etsuko’s friend Sachiko, was most recently seen in FX series Shogun and won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor or actress at Venice in 2011 for her performance in Sion Sono’s Himizu.
A Pale View Of Hills was the debut novel of Nobel Prize winning author Ishiguro, who also serves as executive producer for the film, having previously worked with Number 9 as scriptwriter of Living, a 2022 adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa classic Ikiru, which secured Oscar and Bafta nominations. His previous novels to receive feature adaptations include The Remains Of The Day and Never Let Me Go.
Directed Ishikawa is known for previous feature A Man, which won eight awards including best film at the Japanese Academy Awards following its premiere at Venice in 2022. Poland holds a special significance for Ishikawa , who studied at the prestigious Lodz Film School. This marks his first collaboration with Lava Films, led by the veteran producer Mariusz Włodarski together with Marta Gmosińska and composer Pawel Mykietyn.
Gaga is set to release the film theatrically in Japan this summer.
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