American distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired the North American distribution rights to Koji Fukada’s “LOVE LIFE“.

“We’ve been fans of Koji Fukada for a long time, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with him on the release of this heartfelt film,” said Aaron Katz, Oscilloscope’s Acquisition Manager.

I’m glad that Fukada builds complex characters with emotional plots, while at the same time making realistic choices that allow him to relatively develop his worldview. Yes, I am thrilled to be able to share this work with the audience.”

The film world premiered in Competition in Venice last year, went on to play at multiple festivals including Toronto and London. Released in September 2022, “LOVE LIFE” is based on Akiko Yano’s song of the same name, the film stars Fumino Kimura as Taeko, a woman living a peaceful life with her husband (Kento Nagayama) and young son. But a tragic incident led Taeko’s ex-husband, who is the father of her son, back into her life. He is deaf, down on his luck and homeless. To deal with her own pain and guilt, she throws herself into helping him out, which ends up causing friction in her other relationships.

In addition, this work was selected as a lineup for the event “First Look 2023” held at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York from March 15th to 19th, local time in the United States. 

“There are moments when people suddenly feel alone, even when they are with their dear family and friends. I tried to capture that sensation in this film–how loneliness can seep into people’s lives while they are living with others,” said Fukada. “I grew up watching and being influenced by a lot of American movies. I am very happy to be able to release my film in American theaters.

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Yasuhiko Hattori, Masa Sawada, and Yuko Kameda produced “Love Life.” International sales are handled by mk2 Films. The deal was negotiated with Quentin Bohanna for mk2 Films.