Japan’s Gaga Touting ‘We Make Antiques!’ and ‘#Manhole’ at TIFFCOM
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Japanese indie studio Gaga is activating international sales on a handful of films in post-production, with the “We Make Antiques! Osaka Dreams” and “#Manhole” the headline titles.
“Antiques” is a comedy about get rich quick schemes, art forgeries and the world of antiques. It is directed by Take Masaharu, the hitmaker with credits that include “100 Yen Love,” “The Gun” and “The Naked Director.” Starring Nakai Kiichi, Sasaki Kuranosuke and Yasuda Shota the film is set to reach Japanese cinemas on Jan. 6, 2023, anticipated to be a busy time for theaters.
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The company is also in post on “#Manhole,” a suspense thriller that it launched during the Cannes market in May without any cast details.
Directed by Kumakiri Kazuyoshi and scripted by Okada Michitaka, the film depicts a promising young man, with everything going for him, who falls to the bottom of a deep manhole on the eve of his wedding. Trapped and imagining all sort of horrors, the prospective bridegroom uses his smartphone to reach out to friends, the police and social media. But his predicament becomes worse. And it is far from sure that he makes it to the altar on time.
Gaga now confirms that rising star Nakajima Yuto is the male lead and that the film is targeting a February 2023 release in theaters.
In the case of both films, Gaga says that remake rights are available.
The company is also promoting “Break of Dawn,” an animation title that previously played at the Sitges festival and released on Friday in Japanese theaters. Based on a manga “Bokura no Yoake” by Imai Tetsuya, the film is directed by Kurokawa Tomoyuki and features a kid who befriends an extra-terrestrial who inhabits the body of an AI robot.
Gaga was busy at the recent Busan film market where it gave market screenings to four completed titles. They included “Akai” a documentary about a TV presenter who was previously a boxer; biographical drama “A Mother’s Touch,” which releases in Japan next week; dementia drama “A Hundred Flowers”; and the Abe Hiroshi-starring “Offbeat Cops,” which recently played at the New York Asian Film Festival.
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