A new player has arrived at the international film scene, which was officially announced by Tokyo-based film distribution and production record label Maboroshi in Cannes.

A collective team of heavy hitters covers established qualifications for cinemas in Asia and around the world. The venture’s founding team is a lineup of industry veterans, including producers Jin Zhao, Yosuke Kikuchi, Isabel Li and Leo Li, as well as international distributor Liuying Cao and Provincemer-Distributor Haochen Xu.

Maboroshi's ambitious mission focused on a two-pronged strategy: bringing global cinemas to Japanese audiences, while developing international joint production with a clear China-Japan perspective.

The company gets its name from terms shared in Japanese and Chinese. The nickname has a philosophical weight, combining characters representing "illusion" and "image" - creating conceptual tension between tangible and elusive.

"For us, movies are precisely a paradoxical existence: visceral but distant, tangible but elusive," the founder said. "Maboroshi represents what we think of movies and serves as a philosophical and creative compass for everything we do. ”

In terms of distribution, Maboroshi is working with Katsuben Cinema (a boutique Arthouse tag under Lespros Entertainment) to introduce unique Auteur movies to Japanese audiences from Chinese and beyond.

Their upcoming slate include Ken Loach's "Old Oak" (official selection, Cannes 2024), Albert Serra's "The Noon of the Lonely" (best movie, 2024, San Sebastián Golden shell), Ho Cheuk tin

In addition to traditional distributions, Maboroshi will continue to be the first to lead the China Film Today initiative, an ongoing cultural program that showcases emerging voices from Japanese audiences from the new generation of China to major cities including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoa. Instead of acting as a one-off festival, the program aims to create an ongoing cross-cultural curatorial dialogue between Japan and China.

Maboroshi did not waste any time developing its production section and started with "Fuxi: Joy into four chapters", a sophomore feature of film producer Qiu Jiongjiong. The company will adopt a variety of cross-border programs covering script development, joint production and investment between its Tokyo and Beijing offices, focusing on creating bold works of art with huge international market potential.

"In today's increasingly extreme film ecosystem, cross-cultural cooperation will be the key to shaping tomorrow's cinemas," the founder said in the announcement.