A best-selling Japanese novelist with more than 10 million books sold is stepping behind the camera for the first time. Maha Harada's feature directorial debut, "In My Father's Room," has been selected for the competition section of the San Sebastian Film Festival and added to the fall sales slate of Bitters End, the Tokyo-based distributor and production company behind the Oscar-winning "Drive My Car" (Variety).

Known in Japan under the title "Muyou no Hito," the film is adapted from Harada's own short story "An Unnecessary Man." Harada is one of Japan's most widely read contemporary novelists, having sold over 10 million copies since she began publishing in 2006. Her art-themed novels include "Canvas of Paradise" and "Guernica Cover-Up." Before turning to fiction, she trained in Japanese literature and art history, worked at a trading firm, and held positions at museums including New York's Museum of Modern Art, eventually shifting into freelance curatorial and cultural writing.

The cast brings together familiar faces from Japanese cinema. Aoi Yu, known internationally for "Wife of a Spy," leads alongside Ogata Issey, whose credits include "Onoda," Martin Scorsese's "Silence," and Edward Yang's "Yi Yi." Nagayama Eita, seen in "Monster," and Watanabe Eri, known for "Shall We Dance?," round out the principal cast. Cinematography is by Kitagawa Yoshio, whose work includes "Evil Doesn't Exist" and "Lost Land."

Bitters End will handle both international sales and the Japanese local release, with the latter scheduled for January 2027. The company has spent more than 30 years bringing international auteur cinema to Japanese audiences, and its recent releases include "Below the Clouds," "Young Mothers," "Sex/Love/Dreams," "Anora," and "The Odyssey." On the production side, Bitters End's credits extend well beyond "Drive My Car": "Two Seasons, Two Strangers" won the Golden Leopard at Locarno, "All of a Sudden" was a Cannes prizewinner, and "All the Lovers in the Night" was selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

What makes this stand out is the rarity of the path. A novelist of Harada's commercial stature — 10 million copies sold across two decades — moving directly into feature directing, rather than simply optioning rights to a screenwriter, is uncommon enough to register. That her debut lands in competition at San Sebastian, one of Europe's A-list festivals, rather than opening quietly in the domestic market first, signals an early international vote of confidence.

For audiences, the San Sebastian competition slot means the film will screen for critics, buyers, and festival-goers this September — the festival's Official Selection is its highest tier, where the Golden Shell for best film is decided. A Japanese release follows in January 2027, with international dates to be set as Bitters End takes the title to market.