Wagako 我が子
Coralie Watanabe Prosper
Producers
Miyuki Fukuma, Delphine Tomson, Garance Cosimano
Lab Edition:
12
,
2024
Production
Bunbuku, Japan; No Yelling Productions, France
Country
France, Japan, Belgium
SYNOPSIS
Tom, in her thirties, lives in France with Saki, her Japanese wife and their four year old boy, Genki. The family leads a fulfilling life until their world is flipped upside down during a trip to Japan where Saki passes away suddenly. After the tragedy, Saki’s parents consider it their duty to raise Genki in Japan - an inconceivable decision for Tom, who resolves to fight to remain the mother of her child.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Being married to a Japanese woman myself, the need to give life to this story originates from the anguish of what we could one day have to go through. Even though "Wagako" is different from our reality, the storyline grew from our own administrative issues and our suffering of not being recognized as a legal couple in Japan. Indeed, same sex marriage is not allowed in the country of the rising sun. My wife and I deeply wish to make our own family but how do we tread this path - knowing full well that we will not be able to ensure security to this unborn child.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Coralie Watanabe Prosper graduated from the National Film School of Nice. Her final project, "Mathi(eu)", is a multi-award-winning short film screened around the world. In 2016, Coralie earned her Master of Fine Arts in Directing from East 15 Acting School in London. She founded a French-Japanese Theatre Company where she wrote, directed, and performed in several shows. Coralie has just completed her short film "Kotowari" and is now focusing on her first feature film, "Wagako", produced in Japan by Miyuki Fukuma from Bunbuku, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film production company.
ABOUT THE CO-WRITER
PRODUCERS
Miyuki Fukuma, Delphine Tomson, Garance Cosimano
NO YELLING! PRODUCTIONS was founded by Garance Cosimano in 2022 after 6 years as a line producer for Les Films du Poisson ("Hold Me Tight" by Matthieu Amalric, "Plot 35" by Eric Caravaca, "Memoir of Pain" by Emmanuel Finkiel, etc). The company was born out of our desire to bring together audiences and support young authors with bold perspectives on humanity. Our editorial line focuses on stories about family and identity construction. These topics drive and inspire us, and we believe they should be widely shared. We also prioritize the hybridity of forms in our choices, convinced that the blending of genres is always a guarantee of artistic renewal and emotional authenticity.
Bunbuku is a Tokyo-based production company founded by Hirokazu Kore-eda in 2014. It focuses on the production of feature films, documentaries, series and commercials, mainly directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda and Miwa Nishikawa.
After completing graduate studies at the University of Tokyo and studying abroad, Miyuki Fukuma began working at TV Man Union alongside Hirokazu Kore-eda on films such as "Sway" (Miwa Nishikawa), "Hana" (Hirokazu Kore-eda), "Still Walking" (Kore-eda), "Dear Doctor" (Nishikawa) or "Air Doll" (Kore-eda). Miyuki Fukuma participated in the launch of the production company Bunbuku. Continuously involved in the development and production of films directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Miyuki is notably the producer of "The Truth" as well as "Broker".
PRODUCTION COMPANY PROFILE
○ No Yelling Productions, Saint Ouen sur Seine
○ +33 6 25 41 80 06
○ garance@noyelling-productions.com
PRODUCTION BUDGET
○ Total budget: 3,000,000 USD
LANGUAGE
French, Japanese
GENRE
Drama