Between Two Lovers Debuts in Busan Competition
A children's author proposes that her husband, her female editor and she live together and raise a child in Between Two Lovers, the sophomore feature from Nanako Hirose that debuted in Competition at the Busan Film Festival. The film stars Masami Nagasawa as Uta, Tasuku Emoto as her husband Morio and Shizuka Ishibashi as editor Junna, according to Variety. Three people. One household.
Hirose also wrote and edited the film. She is a protégé of Hirokazu Kore-eda and previously worked as his assistant. Between Two Lovers is her second feature as director.
Nagasawa plays Uta, the author of the Little Miss Mushroom series of picture books. Emoto plays Morio. Ishibashi plays Junna, the editor who works with Uta on those books.
The home life overtakes the work life. Uta proposes that Morio act as donor for Junna's child and that all three move in together. The suggestion sets the terms for the rest of the story: shared housing and shared parenting.
The project has been described as a polyamorous romantic drama that probes unconventional love and family structures, as The Hollywood Reporter reported in March. Polyamorous here means a relationship involving more than two partners with the knowledge of everyone involved. That premise centres on how households can be formed.
Busan placed the film in Competition. That section serves as the entry point for the New Currents Award, the festival's platform for emerging voices in Asian cinema, Variety reported in September. Competition screenings put a new film before programmers, critics and buyers at the same time.
Hirose has a second link to Busan this cycle. Her Wings of Return (working title) was among the Asian Project Market selections, Variety reported in July. The Market is Busan's meeting point where projects in development meet producers and financiers.
On the business side, K2 Pictures launched sales on Between Two Lovers at Cannes, Deadline reported in May. Sales means offering distribution rights country by country to local distributors. The title is due on 27 November, Variety reported in May, which places its next step after the festival run.
