It Project Selection

2024 SelectionList

Push-button Syndrome

Push-button Syndrome

Country Japan
Director MURAKAMI Riko
Producer FUJITA Kanako
Writer MURAKAMI Riko
Production Company Cobalt Pictures Co., Ltd., Felis Pictures Ltd.
Format 4K | Color | 90min
Genre Satire, Mystery, Action, Comedy, Drama

Synopsis

Toma, a ruthless protagonist, despises inefficiency and struggles to empathize with others. One day, he develops 'Button-Press Syndrome', compelling him to press every button he sees.
This leads him to ring doorbells all over town, inadvertently saving heiress Hikari from a Yakuza assassination. Now targeted by the Yakuza, Toma and Hikari embark on a chaotic escape, uncovering secrets and forming unexpected alliances.

Director

MURAKAMI Riko

MURAKAMI Riko is one of Japan's hottest young film directors/screenwriters. Known for her skillful foreshadowing and plot twists, she delicately addresses complex social issues like child abuse. Starting her writing career at 12, she won the Grand Prix in a youth writing competition out of 20,000 entries. Her debut short film, The Notes (2021), was part of a Japanese omnibus project, released theatrically in 2022, winning an audience poll and earning a 4.2/5.0 rating. Her second film, Fridge (2023), a mystery unraveled from a fridge's perspective, won the Cinegar Award at the 2023 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.

Producer

FUJITA Kanako

Kanako completed her B.A. in Film Studies at King's College London and produced the feature film, ///Dead Fishes// (2023), directed by Tomiaki Kaneko, which won Best Cinematography at the 2023 Japan Film Festival Los Angeles. In February, she established her own film production company, Felis Pictures Ltd., in London. Additionally, Kanako has served as a jury member at the Five Flavours Film Festival and participated in the Campus program at the Far East Film Festival.

Production Company

Cobalt Pictures Co., Ltd.

Cobalt Pictures Co., Ltd. is an independent film production and distribution company founded by Japanese film director, writer, and producer Minami Goto in December 2022. The company's first feature film, Blue Imagine (Urara Matsubayashi, 2024), had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and won prizes at the Ho Chi Minh International Film Festival and the Osaka Asian Film Festival.


Felis Pictures Ltd.

Felis Pictures Ltd., established in London in February 2024, specializes in the production and sales of Asian and European films. The company is currently producing two short films and managing the sales for Naiku, a Lithuanian short film that won the Grand Prix at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival and was released in Japan in May.