EXCLUSIVE: Japan’s Nikkatsu has secured international sales rights to Leave The Cat Alone ahead of its world premiere in the inaugural Competiti
EXCLUSIVE: Japan’s Nikkatsu has secured international sales rights to Leave The Cat Alone ahead of its world premiere in the inaugural Competition section of Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
The relationship drama marks the feature directorial debut of Japanese filmmaker Daisuke Shigaya, whose brief Spring Like Lovers won the Pia Film Festival award in 2017 and whose brief Windows played at BIFF in 2021.
The story centres on a married couple who are having trouble connecting, and a reunion with an venerable friend that stirs up memories of the past.
The film stars actor and musician Soma Fujii, known for 2020’s All Aboard!, who also composed the soundtrack, alongside Ran Taniguchi, who starred in Kohei Igarashi’s Hold Your Breath Like A Lover and Yukino Murakami, who is known for August My Heaven. The supporting cast includes Meiry Mochizuki, Naoyuki Miyahara, Shinsuke Kato, Daikichi Sugawara, Furuya Konosuke, and Kei Sato.
Shigaya, who also serves as screenwriter, began production on the film seven years ago as a self-produced feature before producer Hiro Itaya of HUT Pictures became attached. Leads Fujii and Taniguchi joined in 2024. The film will be distributed in Japan by Iha Films.
It is one of 14 titles that will comprise BIFF’s first-ever Competition strand, vying for the Busan Awards at the 30th edition of the festival, which is set to take place from September 17-26.
The pick-up further bolsters Nikkatsu’s slate for the upcoming Asian Contents and Film Market (ACFM), which runs alongside BIFF from September 20-23. Upcoming titles on its slate include Eiji Uchida’s Night Flower and Kentaro Hagiwara’s manga adaptation Wind Breaker.
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