Neon has acquired the North American rights to “All of a Sudden,” the latest film from Oscar-nominated director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, the film follows the unlikely but deep relationship between two women from different walks of life: a Japanese theater director and the head of a French care home. The film is currently in post-production after shoots in Paris and Kyoto.
“All of a Sudden” is loosely based on a collection of real-life exchanged letters published in the book “When Life Suddenly Takes a Turn: Twenty Letters Between a Philosopher with Terminal Cancer and Medical Anthropologist” by Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono.
The film is produced by David Gauquié, Julien Deris, Jean-Luc Ormières, Renan Artukmaç for Paris-based Cinefrance Studios; Hiroko Matsuda, Kosuke Oshida, Yuji Sadai for Japan’s Office Shirous & Bitters End; Bettina Brokemper for Germany’s Heimatfilm; and Joseph Rouschop for Belgium’s Tarantula.
This is the first acquisition from Neon out of this year’s European Film Market in Berlin, with Sarah Colvin negotiating the sale on behalf of the distributor alongside Renan Artukmaç for Cinefrance Studios. Cinefrance launched international sales for the film this week at EFM with Bitters End selling Asia. The film will be distributed by Diaphana in France and Bitters End in Japan.
Hamaguchi burst onto the international scene in 2021 with his drama “Drive My Car,” which won the Best International Feature Oscar and earned nominations for Best Director and Best Picture, becoming the first Japanese film to be nominated for the latter.
Hamaguchi followed that up with another acclaimed drama “Evil Does Not Exist,” which won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize and FIPRESCI International Critics Award at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.
Since distributing the Best Picture winner “Parasite” in 2019, Neon has established itself as the premier distributor of international cinema in the U.S., distributing four of the five nominees in this year’s Best International Feature Oscar category including Joachim Von Trier’s “Sentimental Value” and Jafar Panahi’s Palme D’Or winner “It Was Just an Accident.”
Neon’s upcoming slate also includes highly anticipated genre films like “Exit 8,” the Japanese horror film based on the indie video game of the same name, and Boots Riley’s colorful crime comedy “I Love Boosters.”
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