EXCLUSIVE: Yôsuke Kubozuka will star in Gomusin, a Japan-UK-South Korea-set film shooting next year. It will be the first project from Average Plus Productions, a new label set up by former Fremantle drama exec Nastasja Borgeot. Japan’s Generation 11 is on board as a co-production partner on the movie, which Bryerly Long will direct.
Kubozuka, a Japanese Academy Award winner, is known for roles in HBO’s Tokyo Vice, BBC and Netflix co-production Giri/Haji, and Martin Scorsese movie Silence. Deadline can share the news as Borgeot lands in Cannes with her new shingle for meetings with sales agents and distributors.
Gomusin will follow Amiya, a British woman of Japanese and Korean descent. She receives a mysterious package at her London home addressed to her late father; it contains a gomusin, an old Korean shoe engraved with the word ‘Tokyo’. She travels to Japan to unravel the mystery and crosses paths with Akio (Kubozuka), a Japanese man of Korean descent and with his own hidden past.
Tracing the shoe’s history reveals uncomfortable truths about Amiya’s father and uncovers connections between her grandmother and a network of Japanese and Korean people resistant to the military regime.
“Gomusin relates to a seldom-discussed chapter of Japanese history, one that I find deeply fascinating,” Borgeot said of the film, which is based her original idea. “It is a narrative marked by pain, but more importantly, by the quiet strength that led to reconciliation and harmony. The stories from this period continue to echo through the generations, subtly shaping the cultural and political landscape of the region today.”
Generation 11 (Tokyo Vice) has boarded the movie as the Japanese production partner. Filming on the project, which will be predominantly English language, will start in spring 2026.
Bryerly Long directs from her own script. The American writer, director and actor lived in Japan for a decade.
“The typical depiction of Japan is of a completely unique culture isolated from the rest of the world,” Long said. “However, I am interested not in what is lost, but rather what is found in translation. Through Amiya’s eyes, I want to offer a fresh perspective that embraces multiculturalism and how our identities today were shaped through historical events connecting people across the globe.”
Before setting up her new indie, Borgeot was legal counsel for Fremantle’s drama co-productions. Prior to that, she was a private practice lawyer, specialising in film and TV and working on projects including A Man Called Otto and Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now.
Yôsuke Kubozuka is represented by Independent Talent Group and Asmakina for Japan. Arrested Industries Talent reps Bryerly Long.
The post Yôsuke Kubozuka To Star In ‘Gomusin’ From Average Plus: Film Is First Project From Former Fremantle Exec Nastasja Borgeot’s New Indie appeared first on Deadline.
