Project Detail

Cottontail

Synopsis

After the death of his wife, Kenzaburo (60s) and his son Toshi (30s) receive an unexpected letter from beyond the grave. Akiko, their wife and mother, asks them to scatter her ashes at the place she loved most as a child – Lake Windermere in England. Surprised by this unexpected request, father and son are initially at loggerheads over their next steps.
The two men, along with Toshi’s wife Satsuki and young daughter Emi, eventually travel together to England from Tokyo to fulfil Akiko’s final wish. But Kenzaburo keeps losing himself in memories of Akiko as his relationship with Toshi becomes increasingly fraught. With little knowledge of where he is going and barely any English, Kenzaburo abandons his family in London and heads to the Lake District on his own with Akiko’s ashes. As he embarks on his quest, his memories of Akiko grow more painful. A lost and weary Kenzaburo stumbles onto the doorstep of a farmer, John, and his daughter Mary. With their help, Kenzaburo is finally able to set course once again toward Lake Windemere. But his true journey toward forgiveness and reconciliation will prove the hardest of all.
Official Selection Vancouver International Film Festival 2023 - World premiere
Official Selection Rome Film Festival 2023 - European premiere

Details

Year: 2023
Type of project: Features
Running time: 93 min
Director: Patrick Dickinson 1st Feature
Producer: Gabrielle Tana, Kosuke Oshida, Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Hélène Théodoly
Co-Producer: Jamie Harvey, Satch Watanabe
Executive Producer: Anne Sheehan, Maria Logan, Raymond Phathanavirangoon
Editor: Andy Jadavji
Screenwriter: Patrick Dickinson
Director of Photography: Mark Wolf
Production Designer: Matthew Button, Kentarô Kosaka
Sound: Danny Sheehan
Composer: Stefan Gregory
Principal cast: Lily Franky, Ryo Nishikido, Tae Kimura, Rin Takanashi, Ciarán Hinds

Genre

Drama

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

UK, Japan co-production

Akiko Films Ltd. (UK), Brouhaha Entertainment (UK), Magnolia Mae Films (US)

Brouhaha Entertainment

8 Basing Street
London
W11 1ET

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Sales Company

Westend Films

Luca Miano
99 Kenton Road
Harrow
HA3 0AN