‘Ravens,’ Starring ‘Shogun’ Actor Tadanobu Asano, Boarded by K5 Intl.

K5 Intl. has come on board for worldwide sales of the feature film “Ravens,” starring Tadanobu Asano, Emmy nominated for “Shōgun,” and Kumi Takuichi.

The film is directed by Mark Gill, known for Morrissey portrait “England Is Mine” (2017), and short film “The Voorman Problem” (2011), which was Oscar and BAFTA nominated.

K5 Intl. will present “Ravens” at a special screening at Toronto Film Festival and the film will have its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival at the end of October, as Variety exclusively announced.

The film depicts the turbulent love-triangle between maverick Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase, his model and wife Yoko, and Fukase’s Art, incarnated as an eight-foot talking Raven. “Tender, mischievous and packing emotional sucker-punches, ‘Ravens’ maps the peaks, troughs and collateral damage of a life devoted to art,” according to a statement.

The film is produced by Vestapol, Ark Entertainment, Minded Factory, Katsize Films and The Y House Films in association with Teamo Production HQ LTD (TPHQ) and Townhouse Media Filmworks. Its producers are Orian Williams, Cyril Cadars, Megumi Fukasawa Ishii, Gill, Hideki Kawamura, Hiroyasu Nagata, David Barrera, Johanna Horn, Mohaan Naader, Nitsa Benchetrit, Henry Gillet and Sam Fayed.

K5 Intl.’s CEO Daniel Baur said: “Tadanobu Asano and Kumi Takiuchi deliver an enigmatic performance that brings this powerful, tragic and eternal love story of Masahisa and Yoko back to life. We are thrilled to be working with exceptionally talented director Mark Gill and bringing his movie to audiences worldwide.”

Gill said: “The first time I saw Fukase’s photographs, I sensed the presence of genius and felt a hunger to discover the man behind the camera. I soon realized Fukase’s story was intertwined with that of Yoko, his wife, collaborator and survivor. (I don’t call her a muse – she was more active than passive, and the film is her story, too.)

“But could I, a Japanophile Brit, recreate these lives and the postwar Shōwa art scene they inhabited? Might my outsider’s eye afford an objectivity to offset my foreignness?

“When I succeed with these challenges, I thank the cast and crew who guided my decisions and enriched the project with what I can only call love. Making ‘Ravens’ in the oven of a Tokyo summer was the most magical experience, and I am indecently proud of what we created together.”

As well as his performance in FX’s “Shōgun,” Asano is known for his roles in Marvel’s “Thor” trilogy, “Harmonium,” Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize winner in 2016, and the classic “Ichi the Killer” (2001).

Takiuchi, who plays Yoko in “Ravens,” appeared in “A Balance,” winner of the New Currents Award for best film at Busan in 2020.

“Ravens” is slated for general release in Japan in March 2025 by Ark Entertainment, and in France for spring 2025.

K5 Intl. was relaunched by Baur with a new team last year. The first project on its new slate is Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga.” The first chapter premiered in Cannes and was released by Warner Bros./New Line this summer. “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2” will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.