''Cottontail'' () is a 2023

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by Patrick Dickinson. It premiered at the

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...

on 26 October 2023, winning the BNL BNP Paribas Best First Film award.

Premise

A widower and his son travel from Japan to England's

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

to scatter his wife's ashes there, as she grew up loving the stories of

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis (; 28 July 186622 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( ), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' ...

Cast

Lily Franky , known professionally as , is a Japanese illustrator, writer, and actor. He has appeared in more than 40 films since 2001. Career In 2016, Lily Franky received the Cut Above Award for Outstanding Performance in Film at Japan Cuts: Festiv ...

as Kenzaburo * Ryo Nishikido as Toshi *

Tae Kimura is a Japanese actress. She won the Best Actress award at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize for '' All Around Us''. Biography Kimura starred in Ryosuke Hashiguchi's '' All Around Us''. Her performance in the film was described by Jason Gray as "one ...

as Akiko *

Rin Takanashi is a Japanese actress. Career Takanashi starred in the 2007 film adaptation of the Japanese novel ''Goth (novel), Goth'' as one of the lead characters, Yoru Morino. She starred in the 2009 Super Sentai series ''Samurai Sentai Shinkenger'' as on ...

as Satsuki *

Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds ( ; born 9 February 1953) is a British Northern Irish actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Love ...

as John * Aoife Hinds as Mary

Production

It was announced in November 2019 that

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nominated for the Academy Awa ...

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ralph Fiennes, various accolades, including a British Academy Film ...

Jessie Buckley Jessie Buckley (born December 28, 1989) is an Irish actress and singer. The accolades she has received include a Laurence Olivier Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards. Buckley began her career in 2008 as a contes ...

and Dai Watanabe had been cast in the film. Filming was set take place between

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, beginning autumn 2020. In April 2021, the previously announced cast, minus Buckley, had exited the film, with

, Ryo Nishikido,

and

now set to star. Filming took place in June 2021. Late 2022, it was announced that

's daughter Aoife Hinds had replaced Buckley.

References

External links

''Cottontail''
- WestEnd Films * {{IMDb title, 11244166 2023 films British drama films Films about grief Films set in Japan Films shot in England Films shot in Japan Beatrix Potter 2020s English-language films