Busan: Gaga Picks up ‘His Lost Name’

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Gaga Corporation has picked up international sales rights to Japanese drama film “His Lost Name.” The film will premiere in the New Currents competition next month at the Busan Film Festival.

“Lost Name” is a first feature by female director Nanako Hirose, who hails from the Bun-buku stable of Palme d’Or winning auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda. Hirose previously worked on Kore-eda’s “Like Father, Like Son” and “Our Little Sister.”

With an original screenplay also written by Hirose, the film tells the story of a young man who is washed up on a river bank, knows only his name, and is taken in by a widower, despite his knowing little about the stranger. And, while the young man tries to confess something, folk from the neighboring village are becoming suspicious following an unexplained incident. The film stars Yuya Yagira Hour (“Nobody Knows,” “Gintama”).

Production is by Bandai Namco Arts. AOI Pro and The Asahi Shimbun Co. A Japanese release is set for 2019 through distributor Magic.

Gaga recently shared the sales duties on “Shoplifters,” which appeared in competition at Cannes this year and claimed the festival’s top prize.

The Busan festival runs October 4, 2018 to October 13, 2018. The Asian Film Market will run October 6, 2018 to October 9, 2018.