Asian Shadows’ 70mm epic Black Bull premieres in Tokyo

“Black Bull“, a powerful rural drama from Japan. Tsuta Tetsuichirowas selected for worldwide sales by an agency in Hong Kong and Beijing. Asian shadows. The film will have its world premiere on Friday in the Future of Asia section. Tokyo International Film Festival and will go into commercial release in Taiwan next week.

The Black Bull takes place in the 19th century. It follows the life of a man who moves from a hunter-gatherer existence in the mountains to life on a farm. One day he meets a bull, which he somehow manages to lead back to his home. He lives with an animal, which becomes his companion in life, changing seasons.

The film, set in Japan, is inspired by Ten Shepherd Paintings, a series of short poems and illustrations from the Zen Buddhist tradition depicting the path to enlightenment and spiritual awakening.

The cast includes Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng (“Alien Eyes” and a number of Tsai Ming-liang films, including “Rebels of the Neon God,” “Long Live Love,” “The Hole,” “I Don’t Wanna Sleep Alone,” “Days”) ), Japanese actor Tanaka Min (“The Twilight Samurai,” “47 Ronin,” “Perfect Days”) and dancer-choreographer, creator of the Moving Earth dance troupe Kei Takei.

The film’s music was composed by the late Sakamoto Ryuichi.

The film is a three-way Japan-Taiwan-US co-production with Niko Niko Film (Japan), Moolin Films (Taiwan), Cinema Inutile (US-Japan), Cineric Creative (US-Japan) and Fourier Films (Japan). .

The Taiwanese release of “Black Ox” is via Light Year Images. It will be distributed in Japan by Alfazbet.

Formerly known as “Black Cattle”, it has been a recipient of the TAICCA International Co-Financing Program and has participated in project financing markets including Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, the Busan Asian Project Market and the Kyoto Film Pitching event.

Filmed in Shikoku, southwest Japan, where the director was born, Black Bull is Tsuta’s second film in a fictional trilogy. His debut film, The Tale of Iya, premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival and received a special mention. This was followed by the Aurora Award at the Tromsø International Film Festival, the Best Film Award at the Pan Asian Film Festival and the Jury Prize at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

The Tale of Iyo is set in Iyo, Tokushima, which is considered the last unexplored part of Japan. . Shot on 35mm color film, the film captures the beauty of Japan’s four seasons.

With Black Bull, Tsuta embarks on even more ambitious work. This is the first feature-length film in the history of Japanese cinema to be shot on 70mm film.

Asian Shadows has completed many ambitious works in the region, including six films by Wang Bing – “The Man in Black”; “Three Sisters” (recognized as the best film of the Orrizonti section in Venice in 2012); “Alone”, which played at the Rotterdam festival in 2013; Till Madness Do Us Part (out of competition at Venice 2013; Taang (Berlinale Forum 2016); and Mrs. Fang (winner of the Golden Leopard Award at Locarno 2017) – and Rima Das Toronto and San Sebastian are named “Village Rock Stars”. “Coming Home Again” by Wayne Wang and “Zero” by Soda Kazuhiro.

Check out the teaser here.