A Spanish director is bringing a distinctly Japanese story to the screen with “Konbini,” a humanistic drama about an elderly man who deliberately shoplifts to get arrested and the convenience store worker who derails his plan.
The project, selected for the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market, follows Kisayo, a struggling sound artist working night shifts at a Tokyo convenience store, who thwarts an old man’s blatant attempt to get himself jailed through shoplifting. An unlikely friendship forms between the two, bridging their very different worlds.
Director Pedro Collantes (Venice selection “The Art of Return”) was drawn to the material after learning about a disturbing trend in Japan: an increasing number of elderly people committing petty crimes with the goal of imprisonment. “What kind of person chooses to go to prison on purpose? What emotions and circumstances lead to such a desperate decision?” Collantes asks. “It is a terrible irony that some people feel more a part of a community being in jail, than free in society.”
While rooted in Japanese social reality, Collantes believes the film’s themes resonate globally. “The reflection on the place to which we, as societies, relegate people who reach old age resonates beyond the specific cultural context of Japan to a global audience,” he says. “The intention is to emphasize the universal value of human dignity and the need for empathy and intergenerational connection.”
Making a Japanese-language film in Japan as a foreign director presents unique challenges. “It constantly tests my sensitivity to culture, language, and nuance,” Collantes admits. Though his wife is Japanese and he’s spent extended periods in the country, he describes building a bridge between two creative worlds as “a delicate, humbling task.”
The production has already achieved significant milestones, winning the Tsutaya Creators’ Program and securing support from Japanese co-producers Culture Entertainment. “Among the highlights, winning the Tsutaya Creators’ Program was a true turning point,” Collantes says. The director is currently scouting locations and casting in Tokyo.
Producer Pedro Hernandez Santos of Spain’s Aquí y Allí Films (“La deuda”) sees the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market as an opportunity to expand the project’s European footprint. “We already have a solid project in collaboration with Culture Entertainment, our Japanese co-producers, but we believe there’s room to bring in an additional European partner,” he says. The team is also focused on securing international sales following early interest.
The film represents groundbreaking territory as the first Spanish-Japanese co-production directed by a Spanish filmmaker but shot entirely in Japanese. Spanish and European funds have already backed the project, reinforcing its cross-cultural ambitions. “That pioneering aspect is precisely what makes the journey so special and challenging at the same time,” Hernandez Santos notes.
Production is scheduled for next summer, with delivery targeted for 2027. “We believe we have a unique, beautiful, and tender film that can perform very well in theaters worldwide,” the producer says.
After completing “Konbini,” Collantes plans to continue exploring cross-cultural narratives with a project examining the encounter between France and Spain.
AloJapan.com