Japan’s Lisa Takeba explores dual identity in Children of the River

Famous Japanese director Lisa Takeba (“The Pinkie,” “Signal 100”) is developing “Children of the River,” a Japan-Italy co-production that explores themes of identity and loss through the story of twin sisters. The project participates in Tokyo’s funding gap market is exploited TIFFCOMfilm market associated with Tokyo International Film Festival.

The film, which is scheduled to shoot in the summer of 2025, follows Ryoka, a 19-year-old art student who struggles with feelings of inferiority towards her twin sister, Kai. After Kaya’s sudden death in a car accident, Ryoka must deal with her grief while dealing with an unexpected connection with Eito, a 17-year-old girl who had feelings for her late sister.

“It’s a story about an identity crisis,” Takeba said Variety. “Because twins are a kind of dual identity, if you lose your partner, you lose half of yourself.”

The project is one of the first features to take advantage of a joint production agreement between Japan and Italy that came into effect in August. Takeba cites his admiration for Italian cinema, particularly the work of Alice Rohrwacher, as a source of inspiration for the collaboration.

“Both countries have such a high culture, and most Japanese admire Italian culture,” Takeba said. “I think this collaboration will be a great synergy, as a mirror of the Italian post-production and the Japanese crew.”

The director plans to approach the film as a “landscape painting”, where the natural environment plays a central role. The film also aims to make a subtle environmental statement through its visual language.

“When the pandemic started, I saw a lot of news through the BBC or CNN, most of the video was really grey,” Takeba explained. “I want to post an image of a completely different color, like bright green. Everyone needs water, not fire. This is also my deep emotion against global warming.”

This project is based on the experience of international cooperation of Takeba “Horse Thieves” (2019), co-production of Japan and Kazakhstan, co-director Erlan Nurmukhambetov, who opened the Pusan ​​International Film Festival. Italy’s Antropica (“She”) is a co-producer.