Metrograph Pictures has acquired North American rights to Neo Sora’s narrative debut “Happyend,” a dystopian portrait of rebellious youth fighting for a better future.
Sora’s fiction feature debut, “Happyend” had its world premiere at Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section and will go on to play at Toronto, Busan and New York Film Festival. Metrograph Pictures will release the film in theaters next year. “Happyend” is represented globally (outside of Japan and Singapore) by Magnify.
Set in a near-future Tokyo, “Happyend” revolves around two best friends who are about to graduate high school while threats of a catastrophic earthquake looms. One night, they pull a prank on their principal, which leads to a surveillance system being installed in their school. Stuck between the oppressive security system and a darkening national political situation, the two respond in contrasting ways.
Sora previously directed “Ryuichi Sakamoto/Opus” which premiered at Venice and was picked by Janus for North America, and short films, such as “The Chicken” which premiered in Locarno, among others.
The director said he made “Happyend” “imagining what a near-future might look like, drawing parallels with Japan’s history of earthquakes unearthing social contradictions.” He said “so much of this film comes from (his) own experiences growing up in New York, and the friendships that have been fundamental to my life.”
David Laub, head of Metrograph Pictures, said Sora is “such an exciting new cinematic voice, and ‘Happyend’ is a bold, unique, and deeply resonant film. It’s set in the near future but it’s really about our lives right now.”
“Neo has crafted a moving and often humorous story of friendship and growing up set within a remarkably fresh and surprising world. We are thrilled to be working with Neo and distributing this one-of-a-kind film,” Laub continued. The deal was negotiated by Lorna Torres at Magnify on behalf of the filmmakers.
Metrograph Pictures has also pre-bought Christian Petzold’s latest film “Miroirs No. 3” starring Paula Beer as a young music student who has to restructure her life when her boyfriend dies in a car crash.
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Publish date : 2024-09-03 03:00:00
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