MUMBAI: Palador Pictures’ Japanese film Tokyo Sonata directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa won the Best Film award in the Asian Arab category at the recently concluded Osian’s-Cinefan Film Festival.

Palador acquired Tokyo Sonata from Fortissimo Films and plans to release the film in India in October this year.

"We are delighted that Tokyo Sonata has won the top honours at this prestigious festival. It is good to see Indian audiences beginning to appreciate films in the World Cinema category. We at Palador aim to showcase many memorable cinematic creations from across cultures and countries for Indian audiences in the years to come,” said Palador founder and managing director Gautam Shiknis.

Tokyo Sonata is a sensitive and touching examination of a dysfunctional Japanese family that slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company. Another Palador film, My Blueberry Nights was also screened at the festival. My Blueberry Nights is directed by Wong Kar Wai and stars Jude Law, Norah Jones and Natalie Portman.

“Close to 50 titles from Palador’s 1000 strong library of films are already available on DVD from a tie up with Moser Baer while 26 of our films are playing at Zee Studio. This marks the largest ever influx of quality cinema in the country and the appreciation of good films in festivals, only serve to increase the quality of cinema that is watched across the country and this will eventually lead to great cinema being made,” said Palador Pictures founder and joint managing director Mohan Polamar.