Riding a wave of festival momentum with “It Was Just an Accident,” ”Sentimental Value” and “The Secret Agent,” MK2 Films has boarded “Nagi Notes,” the latest feature from Cannes prizewinning Japanese auteur Koji Fukada.
MK2 Films handles international sales and will introduce the project to buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market this week.
“Nagi Notes” marks MK2 Films’ fifth collaboration with Fukada, following “Love on Trial,” which premiered at Cannes last year; “Love Life,” which competed at Venice in 2022; “Harmonium,” winner of Cannes’s Un Certain Regard Prize; and “A Girl Missing,” which played at Locarno and Toronto.
Set in the bucolic town of Nagi, the film centers on Yoriko, a sculptor living in the shadow of a past love that continues to shape her art. When Yuri, a Tokyo architect and former sister-in-law, arrives for a visit amid a recent separation, she becomes a welcome distraction. Recently separated, Yuri is unsettled and unsure how to rebuild her life beyond marriage and career. What begins as a brief escape from the city gradually becomes a quiet confrontation for them both.
Produced by Hassaku Labs in Japan and Survivance in France, alongside Star Sands, Momo Film Co. and Wonderstruck, “Nagi Notes” is being touted by MK2 Films as an “exploration of intimate human relationships, combining emotional subtlety with a sharp eye on contemporary Japanese society.”
The launch caps a banner stretch for MK2 Films, which heads into EFM with a robust slate that includes newly announced projects from “Anatomy of a Fall” director Justine Triet, and Todd Haynes’ “De Noche,” starring Pedro Pascal (which MK2 is also financing and co-producing).
The company’s recent run includes three Golden Globe wins, seven European Film Awards, 15 nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards and 11 BAFTA nods with a slate that includes Cannes’ Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just an Accident,” as well as “Sentimental Value,” and “The Secret Agent.”