Short synopsis : Two families are forced to choose between nature and nurture – between their natural sons and the sons they have raised.

Long synopsis : Would you choose your natural son, or the son you believed was yours after spending 6 years together? Kore-eda Hirokazu, the globally acclaimed director of “Nobody Knows”, “Still Walking” and “I Wish”, returns to the big screen with another family - a family thrown into torment after a phone call from the hospital where the son was born… Ryota has earned everything he has by his hard work, and believes nothing can stop him from pursuing his perfect life as a winner. Then one day, he and his wife, Midori, get an unexpected phone call from the hospital. Their 6-year-old son, Keita, is not ‘their’ son - the hospital gave them the wrong baby. Ryota is forced to make a life-changing decision, to choose between ‘nature’ and ‘nurture.’ Seeing Midori’s devotion to Keita even after learning his origin, and communicating with the rough yet caring family that has raised his natural son for the last six years, Ryota also starts to question himself: has he really been a ‘father’ all these years… The moving story of a man who finally faces himself when he encounters an unexpected wall for the first time in his life.

Cast

• Fukuyama Masaharu, ONO MACHIKO, MAKI YOKO, Lily Franky

Crew

• Producer(s): Kaoru Matsuzaki, Hijiri Taguchi
• Director(s): Kore-eda Hirokazu
• DP: Mikiya Takimoto
• Editing: Hirokazu Koreeda

• Original Title: Soshite chichi ni naru
• Genre(s): Drama


• Production date: 2013
• Language: Japanese
• Duration: 121 min

• Festival de Cannes 2013 - Competition
  Award(s) : Jury Prize
• Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2013
  
• Munich International Film Festival 2013
  
• T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival 2013
  
• New Zealand International Film Festival 2013
  
• Melbourne International Film Festival 2013
  
• Toronto International Film Festival 2013
  
• Haifa International Film Festival 2013
  
• San Sebastian Film Festival 2013
  Award(s) : Waki.TV Audience Award
• New York Film Festival 2013
  
• Busan International Film Festival 2013
  
• Ghent Film Festival 2013
  
• BFI London Film Festival 2013
  
• Morelia International Film Festival 2013
  
• Sao Paulo Mostra Internacional de Cinema 2013
  Award(s) : Audience Award
• Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2013
  
• Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2013
  
• Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2013
  
• Chicago International Film Festival 2013
  
• Vancouver International Film Festival 2013
  Award(s) : Audience Award - International Films