Bunny drops on Shanghai

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Festival News

The Shanghai International Film Festival 上海國際電影節 (11-19 June 2011) has announced the first nine titles in its international competition.

The selection includes two films from Japan, SORI Fumihiko 曽利文彦's boxing drama Tomorrow's Joe あしたのジョー (2011) and Sabu サブ's Bunny Drop うさぎドロップ (2011) about a 27-year-old salaryman bachelor who raises the illegitimate 6-year-old daughter of his grandfather.

Bunny Drop will receive its world premiere at the festival. The comedy, starring MATSUYAMA Kenichi 松山ケンイチ, is scheduled to open in Japan on 20 August 2011 through Showgate Inc ショウゲート, who are also handling international sales of the manga adaptation.

Goutam GHOSE's The Quest Moner manush (2010), a co-production between India and Bangladesh, is about the life of poet and singer Lalan Fakir starring Prosenjit CHATTERJEE. Based on Sunil GANGOPADHYAY's novel, the drama is about the different faiths he experienced and rose above.

Other titles in competition include Roland Joffe's Spanish Civil War drama There Be Dragons, Nacho Garassino's prison break thriller The Bones Tunnel and the world premiere of Ainom directed by Mario Garofalo and Lorenzo Ceva Valla about an ex-guerilla fighter who has fled to Italy.

Last year, there were just three Asian films in Shanghai's competition: SHIMOMURA Masaru 下村優's Partners パートナーズ (2010) from Japan and, from China, LIU Jie 劉傑's Deep in the Clouds 碧羅雪山 (2010) and XUE Xiaolu 薛曉路's Ocean Heaven 海洋天堂 (2010). Ocean also opened the festival.

An additional seven titles in this year's competition are expected to be announced later this month that will likely add Chinese films.

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