Lithuanian Weird Wave Thriller ‘Jōhatsu’ Acquired for North America by Cineverse, Fandor (EXCLUSIVE)
L.A.-based Cineverse, the U.S. distributor of “Terrifier” and “The Toxic Avenger,” has teamed with Fandor to acquire all rights to North America on Lithuanian Weird Wave thriller “Jōhatsu.”
The film will debut via digital and Fandor early next year.
From Lithuanian prize-winning producer Uljana Kim, with whom Alief has worked since 2019’s “Sicvenezia Parthenon,” “Johatsu” world premiered at the 2024 Tallin Critics’ Picks Competition. It received its North American premiere at the Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies Series this Summer in NYC.
Directed by Lina Lužytė and Nerijus Milerius, “Jōhatsu” begins with city morgue worker Lina (Zygimante Jakstaite) being unconvinced by the comportment of the dead man’s estranged wife when she comes to identify the body.
Lina begins to investigate but as clues lead her to a a grim Lithuanian port town, becomes fascinated by the phenomenon of jōhatsu, a Japanese terms for individuals who choose to disappear without trace. The film asks where Lina’s search will take her – some nasty individuals do to not want her to find the missing man. But, the film asks: What is she really looking for?”
Lužytė has made two features, her latest, “Together For Ever” being selected for Karlovy Vary, 2016) and ”The Castle” (2020) and two documentaries after that, her latest being shot in Moria, the biggest refugee camp in Europe on the island of Lesvos, Greece. Milerius’ documentary “Exemplary Behaviour” about inmates sentenced to life, co-directed by Audrius Mickevičius and NerijusMilerius, won three awards at DOK Leipzig, including its Golden Dove and a Fipresci Prize.
“Why do people decide to escape their comfortable routines and erase their traces from the world ready-made for them?” Lužytė and Milerius ask in a director’s statement. “Jōhatsu” marks not a momentarily distraction or a need for a retreat but a radical transformation when the whole history of a person as well as the person itself get erased. That’s exactly why Lina’s character is so precious to us.”
Lincoln Center program notes called “Jōhatsu” a “deceptively subdued thriller that locates terror in the impossibility of really knowing our fellow humans, the impenetrable obscurity of their motivations and actions – and, perhaps most frightening of all, the nagging awareness that our own most profound, private truths might be equally unknowable, even to ourselves.”
“‘Jōhatsu’ is a beautifully crafted film that builds an atmosphere of quiet unease through its striking visuals and meticulous direction. Lina Lužytė and Nerijus Milerius have created something haunting, mysterious and deeply human – a work of art that stays with you long after it ends. It’s exactly the kind of bold, original filmmaking our audience craves, and we’re thrilled to bring this remarkable work to Fandor audiences early next year,” says Eric Rowe, Cineverse Executive Director, Programming.
“We are thrilled to be working with Cineverse and Fandor, an exciting time for independent cinema,” said Alief President Brett Walker.
The film will debut via digital and Fandor early next year.
From Lithuanian prize-winning producer Uljana Kim, with whom Alief has worked since 2019’s “Sicvenezia Parthenon,” “Johatsu” world premiered at the 2024 Tallin Critics’ Picks Competition. It received its North American premiere at the Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies Series this Summer in NYC.
Directed by Lina Lužytė and Nerijus Milerius, “Jōhatsu” begins with city morgue worker Lina (Zygimante Jakstaite) being unconvinced by the comportment of the dead man’s estranged wife when she comes to identify the body.
Lina begins to investigate but as clues lead her to a a grim Lithuanian port town, becomes fascinated by the phenomenon of jōhatsu, a Japanese terms for individuals who choose to disappear without trace. The film asks where Lina’s search will take her – some nasty individuals do to not want her to find the missing man. But, the film asks: What is she really looking for?”
Lužytė has made two features, her latest, “Together For Ever” being selected for Karlovy Vary, 2016) and ”The Castle” (2020) and two documentaries after that, her latest being shot in Moria, the biggest refugee camp in Europe on the island of Lesvos, Greece. Milerius’ documentary “Exemplary Behaviour” about inmates sentenced to life, co-directed by Audrius Mickevičius and NerijusMilerius, won three awards at DOK Leipzig, including its Golden Dove and a Fipresci Prize.
“Why do people decide to escape their comfortable routines and erase their traces from the world ready-made for them?” Lužytė and Milerius ask in a director’s statement. “Jōhatsu” marks not a momentarily distraction or a need for a retreat but a radical transformation when the whole history of a person as well as the person itself get erased. That’s exactly why Lina’s character is so precious to us.”
Lincoln Center program notes called “Jōhatsu” a “deceptively subdued thriller that locates terror in the impossibility of really knowing our fellow humans, the impenetrable obscurity of their motivations and actions – and, perhaps most frightening of all, the nagging awareness that our own most profound, private truths might be equally unknowable, even to ourselves.”
“‘Jōhatsu’ is a beautifully crafted film that builds an atmosphere of quiet unease through its striking visuals and meticulous direction. Lina Lužytė and Nerijus Milerius have created something haunting, mysterious and deeply human – a work of art that stays with you long after it ends. It’s exactly the kind of bold, original filmmaking our audience craves, and we’re thrilled to bring this remarkable work to Fandor audiences early next year,” says Eric Rowe, Cineverse Executive Director, Programming.
“We are thrilled to be working with Cineverse and Fandor, an exciting time for independent cinema,” said Alief President Brett Walker.