Dark Star Pictures will release Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle, the award winning drama based on the true story of Hiroo Onoda, the legendary Japanese soldier who spent 30 years in the Philippine jungle, refusing to surrender because he was convinced World War II had not ended. The film stars Endō Yūya, Tsuda Kanji, Matsuura Yūya, and Chiba Tetsuya.
Directed by Arthur Harari, Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle premiered as the opening night film in Un Certain Regard at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and won the 2022 César Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The film will open in US cinemas on Friday, October 7 at Film Forum, NYC, in Los Angeles on October 14 at Laemmle Santa Monica + additional locations.
A drama based on the true story of Hiroo Onoda, the legendary Japanese soldier who spent 30 years in the Philippine jungle, refusing to surrender because he was convinced World War II had not ended. Camouflaged by leaves and bark, shooting water buffalo for sustenance, Onoda will not believe even the recordings of his brother’s voice, imploring him to give up, or the magazine articles left for him in the jungle, meant to enlighten him about a world that had changed dramatically since 1944. (His response: paranoid conspiracy theories about the enemy concocting fake news.) Was Onoda a self-deluded fanatic or a paragon of patriotism? Harari’s poignant, epic drama reveals the complexities of the man who became a modern myth – and the inspiration for Werner Herzog’s recently published novel, The Twilight World.
Watch the trailer for Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle.