‘Renoir’ Producers to Headline TIFFCOM Co-Production Panel in Tokyo

By Daniel Okafor

Two producers of Hayakawa Chie's Cannes competition title “Renoir” will speak at a Tokyo market panel on Asia-Europe co-production on Oct. 30. The session lands as Japanese accelerator Atmovie Global Track formalizes a partnership with Europe-based workshop Ties That Bind.

The open panel, “Building Creative Partnerships,” runs at TIFFCOM in tandem with the Tokyo International Film Festival. Any badge holder can walk in. The stakes are modest. The ambitions aren't.

Who is on the panel?

Mizuno-Gray Eiko, CEO of Tokyo-based Loaded Films, and French producer Christophe Bruncher of Ici et Là Productions both worked on “Renoir,” which competed at Cannes in 2025. Mizuno-Gray's credits include Hayakawa's “Plan 75,” which earned a special mention for the Caméra d'Or at Cannes in 2022 and became Japan's Oscar entry, plus Kurosawa Kiyoshi's “To the Ends of the Earth.”

She's busy elsewhere too: a Poland-Japan co-production from director Ishikawa Kei, a Japan-Philippines project from Hirayanagi Atsuko, a support-producer role at the accelerator, and a seat on the Tokyo festival's Asian Future jury this year. That's one producer with four jobs.

Bruncher, a La Fémis graduate who speaks Mandarin, serves as head of studies for Ties That Bind. His recent co-productions include Muriel d'Ambourg's Berlinale title “Truly Naked” — credited in the source as Muriel d'Ambourg — and Kamila Andini's Toronto selection “Four Seasons in Java,” both screening at this year's Tokyo festival.

The panel rounds out with:

• Oh Heejung, Seoul- and Amsterdam-based founder of Seesaw Pictures, whose films have played Sundance, Berlin, Locarno, IDFA, Rotterdam and Busan
• Moriya Takeshi, Atmovie CEO and accelerator founder, whose credits span the TV series “Midnight Diner” and Uchida Eiji's “Midnight Swan,” named picture of the year at the 44th Japan Academy Film Prizes

Atmovie Global Track producer Sekiguchi Mio, whose credits include Uchida's “Fiamma,” curated the panel.

What happens before the panel?

On Oct. 27 and 28, Oh and Bruncher will mentor a closed two-day workshop for the accelerator's fellows. The format favors group sessions over lectures: participants develop their projects and discuss career paths rather than sit through talks. Novel concept, admittedly.

Alessandro Gropplero, who runs the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund and co-founded Ties That Bind, curated the overall program. Ties That Bind is organized by the FVG fund with EAVE (a European producer-training network) and the Udine Far East Film Festival, pairing European and Asian producers on development, financing, co-production and networking.

Why does this matter for Japanese film?

Atmovie Global Track trains Japanese filmmakers to carry original projects into the international co-production market, through lectures and mentoring from Japanese and overseas industry figures. Selected fellows pitch at festivals — milestones include the Japan Pavilion at Cannes in May 2025 and the Japan Pitch event at the Busan International Film Festival in October.

The organizers said many creators struggle to build trust across cultures and to communicate outside their native language. The open session, they said, aims to share lessons with the wider industry and expand the network of Japanese filmmakers working internationally.

Funding comes from the Japan Creator Support Fund, which the Japan Arts Council created with Agency for Cultural Affairs money. If the partnership holds, the next “Renoir” may get its passport stamped a little earlier.