Japanese-Brazilian Grief Drama ‘Yellow Chrysanthemum,’ Set During the 2014 Soccer World Cup, Joins Tokyo Gap-Financing Market

Japanese-Brazilian director André Hayato Saito’s first feature, *Yellow Chrysanthemum*, has joined the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market as its team seeks partners to close a funding gap. The drama explores how grief and family silence shape identity, through a teenager who must confront the disappearance of her cousin.

Set in São Paulo during the 2014 World Cup, the film follows 16-year-old Erika, whose cousin Yam vanished at a festival when she was seven. Erika’s growing friendship with Bianca, a classmate grieving her mother, prompts her family to face the loss they have avoided discussing. The Brazil, Japan, Germany and France co-production is in pre-production; filming is planned to include a Japanese Toro Nagashi ceremony in Brazil this November.