Japan’s Lisa Takeba Explores Twin Identity in ‘Children of the River’

Acclaimed 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 is participating in the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market operated by TIFFCOM, the film market allied to the Tokyo International Film Festival.

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

“It’s a story about identity crisis,” Takeba told Variety. “As a twin is a kind of dual identity, if you lost your partner, you lost half of you.”

The project marks one of the first features to take advantage of the Japan-Italy co-production treaty that came into effect in August. Takeba cites her admiration for Italian cinema, particularly the work of Alice Rohrwacher, as inspiration for the collaboration.

“Both countries have such high culture, and most Japanese admire Italian culture,” said Takeba. “I think this collaboration would be great synergy, like a mirror of Italian post-production and Japanese shooting staff.”

The director plans to approach the film as a “landscape painting,” with the natural environment playing 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 BBC or CNN, most of the visual was really gray color,” Takeba explained. “I want to put quite a different color image, like vivid green. Everyone needs water, not fire. That is also my submersible emotion against global warming.”

The project builds on Takeba’s track record of international collaboration, following “The Horse Thieves” (2019), a Japan-Kazakhstan co-production, co-directed by Yerlan Nurmukhambetov, which opened the Busan International Film Festival. Italy’s Antropica (“She”) is co-producing.