Nishikawa's "Dear Doctor" to compete at Montreal

[Tokyograph News]

"Dear Doctor," the latest film by director Miwa Nishikawa ("Yureru"), will be in the World Competition category at this year's Montreal World Film Festival. Celebrating its 33rd year, the festival is scheduled to take place from August 27 to September 7.

The film stars popular rakugo artist Tsurube Shofukutei as a doctor who has earned the trust of the locals in his little remote town. One day he suddenly disappears, and as the search for him progresses, an unexpected truth begins to surface. Shofukutei's supporting cast includes Eita as a medical trainee, Kimiko Yo as a nurse, Teruyuki Kagawa as a pharmacist, and Kaoru Yachigusa as one of the doctor's patients.

With "Dear Doctor," Nishikawa is hoping to pick up another win for Japan. Last year, Yojiro Takita's "Okuribito" ("Departures") claimed the grand prize, and Eiji Okuda's "Nagai Sanpo" ("A Long Walk") won the same award in 2006.

This year's festival will also see Yuichi Kimura in the First Films World Competition program, a separate category for first-time directors. He is entering with "Nisesatsu," a story based on a major counterfeiting case around the end of World War II. The movie stars Mitsuko Baisho.

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