It Project Selection

2024 SelectionList

BAIT

BAIT

Country Japan
Director YOSHIDA Daihachi
Producer TAKAHASHI Naoya
Writer YOSHIDA Daihachi
Production Company TOEI COMPANY, LTD.
Format 4K | Color | 110min
Genre Crime, Suspense

Synopsis

Former gourmet influencer Michi moves to Hokkaido to help her boyfriend's business and gets caught up in illegal fishing. Guided by Sanae, an ama diver leading a poaching crew, she learns the craft while braving perilous seas. They reclaim their dignity and strengthen their bond, but their success provokes a powerful yakuza boss, leading to a tragic murder. Undeterred, Sanae and Michi unite the village outcasts, outwit the yakuza, and swim together into the distance beyond the sea.

Director

YOSHIDA Daihachi

MIYAZAKI Daisuke , from Yokohama, gained acclaim with Dark Side of the Light. He won NYU Japan's Grand Prix. Mentored by Leos Carax and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, he's known for 5 to 9, Yamato (Kariforunia), Tourism, Videophobia, Made in Yamato, 10 Stories, Plastic, and #Mito. Celebrated globally, his work showcases cross-cultural narrative style, marking him as a significant figure in cinema.

Producer

TAKAHASHI Naoya

TAKAHASHI Naoya is a producer at Toei Company. His 2019 film, Hot Gimmick: Girl Meets Boy, was honored in the Asia New Talent category at the Shanghai International Film Festival. His subsequent work, Anime Supremacy! (2022), earned a Japan Academy Prize for Excellence. His latest project, the series Land of Tanabata, based on the work of Iwaaki Hitoshi, the author of Parasyte, is set to premiere on Disney+ in July 2024.

Production Company

TOEI COMPANY, LTD.

Toei Company, Ltd. is a leading Japanese film and television production company established in 1951. Over the years, it has produced numerous popular films and TV series, earning high acclaim both domestically and internationally. Notable works include The Ballad of Narayama, directed by Shohei Imamura, which won the Palme d'Or at the 36th Cannes Film Festival, and Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai, directed by Tadashi Imai, which won the Golden Bear at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival. With an integrated system covering film production, distribution, and exhibition, Toei is actively expanding into the global market.