‘Nagi Notes’ Director Koji Fukada Reunites With MK2 Films on Manga Adaptation ‘Roca’ (EXCLUSIVE)

MK2 Films has boarded “Roca,” the new feature from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada, whose latest film, “Nagi Note,” premiered in competition at Cannes Wednesday.

Adapted from a manga by Hisaichi Ishii (“My Neighbors the Yamadas”), “Roca” follows teenagers Roca, an aspiring fado singer, and Mino, the daughter of a small-time yakuza, who develop a close connection. But as Roca’s musical ambitions begin to take shape, Mino’s increasingly dangerous activities threaten to pull them apart, forcing Roca to choose between her future and the person who has always protected her.

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Blending comedy and music, “Roca” will showcase a shift in tone for Fukada while carrying themes of loneliness and human connection explored in his past films. The feature also marks the sixth collaboration between Fukada and the Paris-based sales company, following “Nagi Notes,” “Love on Trial,” which premiered at Cannes last year, “Love Life,” which competed at Venice in 2022, “Harmonium,” winner of Cannes’s Un Certain Regard Prize and “A Girl Missing,” which played at Locarno and Toronto. “Roca” is produced by TBS and Comme des Cinémas.

MK2 Films boasts a strong presence once again at this year’s Cannes with 11 features across the official selection, including five in competition: Marie Kreutzer’s “Gentle Monster,” Léa Mysius’ “The Birthday Party,” Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur,” Ira Sachs’ “The Man I Love” and “Nagi Notes.”

The latter is set in the bucolic town of Nagi, where Yoriko, a sculptor, is living in the shadow of a past love that continues to shape her art. Variety gave the film a glowing review. “‘Nagi Notes’ happily sees the director returning to the form of his 2016 breakout “Harmonium,” with the precision of its characterization and the balance between heartfelt emotional candor and pensive silence in its finely worked script,” Guy Lodge wrote in his review.

In an interview with Variety, Fukada said the project originated in 2017 when playwright Oriza Hirata invited him to adapt his 1994 play “Tokyo Notes” and recommended Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art as the potential film set.