French distributor Eurozoom has acquired local rights for “To The Ends Of The Earth,” the new film by Japanese directing icon Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Following a deal struck on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival, international sales duties were picked up by Japanese indie sales firm Free Stone Productions.
Starring Atsuko Maeda, Ryo Kase, and Shota Sometani, the film is a rare example of a Japanese-Uzbekistan co-production. Production is by Eiko Mizuno-Gray and Jason Gray of Tokyo-based Loaded Films and Toshikazu Nishigaya of Tokyo Theatres. Uzbekistan’s national cinema agency Uzbekkino serves as co-producer, with backing from the Ministry of Tourism, through the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Tourism Development.
The story involves the host of a popular travel show who is in fact insular and shy on a trip to Central Asia, where her assignment calls for the filming of a mythical fish. As things go wrong, and team members return to Tokyo, she discovers a new freedom in the mountains.
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“Earth” is expected to have a festival premiere later this year. It will receive its commercial release in Japan on June 14, 2019, through Tokyo Theaters. Eurozoom, which has not yet set a French release date, previously handled other Kurosawa titles including “Before We Vanish,” and “Creepy.”