To say that this year's retrospective of his films at the Udine Far East Film Festival left me a fan of Japan's Miki Satoshi is something of an understatement. Moving from film to film over the course of the program - wisely laid out in chronological order - you got the undeniable sense of a director figuring himself out as he moved from film to film, gradually discovering his unique voice until he finally arrived at Adrift in Tokyo - my review here - which is, in my opinion, one of the absolute best films of the year.

And so I am very happy to see that not only is Satoshi hard at work on a new film project but also has one stellar cast lined up. Ryo Kase - you know him from Funky Forest, Letters From Iwo Jima and a host of others - and Kumiko Aso will be taking the lead roles in Satoshi's Instant Numa, the story of an office lady trying to start a new life for herself as an antiques dealer with the support of a friend. And, no, that synopsis doesn't sound like much but, hey ... Adrift is about a couple of guys taking a long walk and it's brilliant.

The photo, incidentally, is of Satoshi, myself and Mark Schilling in the lobby of the theater in Udine. You can probably work out who's who.