It has been announced that the film " Sunflower on the Board " (directed by Kumazawa Naoto, scheduled for release on October 31st), starring actors Sakaguchi Kentaro and Ken Watanabe , will be officially entered into the Open Cinema section of the 30th Busan International Film Festival, which will be held in Busan, South Korea from September 17th to 26th.
This human mystery is a live-action adaptation of the novel of the same name (Chuokoron-Shinsha) by Yuzuki Yuko, known for works such as "The Blood of Wolves." Sakaguchi stars as Kamijo Keisuke, a genius shogi player who made the extraordinary transition from amateur to professional. Watanabe plays Toumyo Shigeyoshi, a legendary gambling shogi master who is a top-class player but a terrible person. Tsuchiya Tao plays Miyata Natsuko, Tao Tsuchiya's ex-fiancee who watches over him. Other cast members include Sasaki Kuranosuke, Takasugi Mahiro, Otoo Takuma, Watanabe Ikkei, Emoto Akira, Onoe Ukon, Kimura Tae, and Fumiyo Kohinata.
An unidentified skeleton is discovered in the mountains. A clue is found in the valuable shogi pieces found with the body. After an investigation, it is revealed that the owner of the pieces is Kamijo Keisuke, a genius shogi player who appeared like a comet in the shogi world. Furthermore, during the course of the investigation, the existence of Dongming Chongqing, a man with overwhelming skills in gambling shogi but who lived in the underworld, emerges as an important person who knows Keisuke's past... This is the story.
The Busan International Film Festival is one of Asia's largest film festivals, held every autumn in Busan, South Korea. Since its founding in 1996, it has screened a large number of domestic and international films with the aim of promoting the development of Asian cinema and discovering new talent, and last year recorded a record number of visitors of approximately 140,000. The Open Cinema section, to which this film will be submitted, selects new and internationally acclaimed works that are rich in artistic merit and will be screened on the outdoor screen (approximately 4,500 seats) at the main venue, the Busan Cinema Center.
Sakaguchi, whose film will be screened at the Busan International Film Festival following last year's, commented with joy, "I am very happy to be invited to the Busan International Film Festival again this year." He went on to talk about the appeal of the film, saying, "Sunflower on the Board is a film that captures a moment in the sad yet beautiful lives of men who live at the mercy of the times. I hope that many people will see it and witness their way of life."
Director and screenwriter Kumazawa Naoto, who fell in love with the profound human drama of the original work and spent seven years completing the film, said, "I am very happy that the film was selected for the Busan International Film Festival. I directed it so that even people who are unfamiliar with shogi can enjoy it to the fullest. I believe the film will convey the importance of living life to the fullest, and how finding something important and devoting yourself to it can be so irreplaceable and soul-stirring."