Cottontail

More Information

From the Academy Award and BAFTA nominated producer of PHILOMENA and THE DUCHESS, COTTONTAIL is a universal portrait of love, acceptance and family loss.

After the death of his wife, Kenzaburo (60s) and his son Toshi (30s) receive an unexpected letter from beyond the grave. Akiko, their wife and mother, asks them to scatter her ashes at the place she loved most as a child – Lake Windermere in England. Surprised by this unexpected request, father and son are initially at loggerheads over their next steps.

The two men, along with Toshi’s wife Satsuki and young daughter Emi, eventually travel together to England from Tokyo to fulfil Akiko’s final wish. But Kenzaburo keeps losing himself in memories of Akiko as his relationship with Toshi becomes increasingly fraught. With little knowledge of where he is going and barely any English, Kenzaburo abandons his family in London and heads to the Lake District on his own with Akiko’s ashes.

As he embarks on his quest, his memories of Akiko grow more painful. A lost and weary Kenzaburo stumbles onto the doorstep of a farmer, John, and his daughter Mary.With their help, Kenzaburo is finally able to set course once again toward Lake Windemere. But his true journey toward forgiveness and reconciliation will prove the hardest of all.

Director

Patrick Dickinson

Cast

Lily Franky, Tae Kimura, Rin Takanashi, Ryo Nishikido, Aoife Hinds, Ciarán Hinds

In English and Japanese with English subtitles.