BFI Distribution today has announced the acquisition of Japanese filmmaker Kôji Fukada‘s Love Life. Set for a UK and Irish cinema release in September.
The film made it’s world premiere at last year’s Venice Film Festival part of the festival’s Competition strand. The film played at other various festivals including Toronto and BFI London.
Fukada‘s film delivers a beguiling, beautifully paced portrait of a family navigating the aftermath of a tragedy, with honesty and a sense of hope.
Inspired by Japanese singer and musician Akiko Yano’s song “Love Life”, the film tells the story of Taeko (Fumino Kimura) and her husband Jiro (Kento Nagayama) who are living a peaceful existence with her young son Keita (Tetta Shimada), when a tragic accident brings the boy’s long-lost father, Park (Atom Sunada), back into Taeko’s life. To cope with the pain and guilt she feels after the accident, Taeko throws herself into helping this deaf and homeless man for whom she has a strong sense of responsibility.
Kôji Fukada powerfully uses sign language in the film and has said of this choice that ‘I don’t have to come up with reasons to have hearing people in my films, so it would be unfair to ask for a reason to have a deaf person. Hopefully, this film will be a step towards this becoming the norm, where we don’t demand a special reason to have deaf people in films. That would be a great innovation to come out of this.’
Julie Pearce, BFI Head of Distribution, said “This tragic, tangled, but at times, comic melodrama feels like a major breakthrough for Fukada. The beautiful final act is worth the price of a ticket alone and we are very proud to be bringing it to UK audiences.”
Quentin Bohanna, International Sales, mk2 Films, said “We are honoured to have found such a wonderful UK home as BFI Distribution to bring Kôji Fukada’s powerful and heartfelt drama to audiences.”
Love Life will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 15th September. If you can’t catch the film at your local cinema, it will be streaming on BFI Player and available on Amazon Prime and iTunes from 3rd November.
