Grief Drama 'Yellow Chrysanthemum' Targets Asia Market in Tokyo

Four nations are backing the production of a debut feature about a teenager who refuses to speak about a family tragedy. The project, titled Yellow Chrysanthemum, is currently seeking final funding at the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market. The film is a co-production between Brazil, Japan, Germany, and France. It is in pre-production after several years of development work. The team is looking to close the financing gap and secure distribution in Asian markets.

The story is set in São Paulo in July 2014, during the World Cup. Erika is a 16-year-old third-generation Japanese-Brazilian who feels like an outsider. She rejects her family roots because of an incident from her childhood. When she was seven, her cousin Yam disappeared during a festival in the Liberdade neighborhood. Her mother was watching the children at the time. The family has lived in silence about the event ever since. Erika later befriends a classmate named Bianca, who is grieving the death of her mother. Bianca’s openness forces Erika’s family to confront the missing cousin.

Director André Hayato Saito said the film draws on his own childhood. He recalled a moment when he asked his father what happens after death. His father answered with a long silence. Saito noted that silence in Japanese-Brazilian households can show love and respect, but it can also hide pain. He described the feature as a continuation of his earlier short films. Those shorts explore grief, memory, and identity between two cultures.

One of those shorts, Amarela, also features a character named Erika. It followed a Japanese-Brazilian teenager during the World Cup final between Brazil and France. The film competed for the short film Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2024. It was shortlisted for the live-action short Oscar at the 98th Academy Awards. It won best live-action short at Brazil's Grande Otelo Awards. It is part of a trilogy that includes Kokoro to Kokoro and Vento Dourado. These projects were made with São Paulo-based MyMama Entertainment.

Saito said he does not want to offer easy answers or conventional closure. He hopes audiences will recognize their own families in Erika's journey. He wants viewers to reflect on things that remain unspoken in their own lives. The film previously won the TorinoFilmLab Production Award. It was also selected for Focus Copro at Cannes.

Producer Mayra Faour Auad founded MyMama Entertainment. She has more than 20 credits, most of them international co-productions. MyMama is developing the film with One Two Films, Loaded Films, and Blue Monday. Faour Auad said the team hopes to meet producers and distributors in Tokyo. Finding an audience in Japan has particular meaning for the team given the film's roots. The Tokyo Gap-Financing Market runs as part of TIFFCOM, the content market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival.

The team plans to shoot a key sequence in November. The scene will take place at a traditional Japanese Toro Nagashi ceremony in Brazil. Saito is also developing his second feature, Little Faults. That film earned a place in Turin's Boost IT Lab this year. It follows an aging Japanese-Brazilian woman in Japan who commits minor offenses. She hopes to end up in prison, where she believes she might finally be cared for.