As one of the largest video distributors in Japan, Pony Canyon acquired the features Cube, Wings of the Dove (with Ace Pictures) and Spanish Prisoner after attending the Toronto International Film Festival for the first time last year. And at the same time company head of acquisitions Naoko Tsukeda attends again this year with her associate Yuji Ishida, Pony Canyon will open Canadian-made Cube (Vincenzo Natali) in Japan Sept. 12.

At this festival – which she calls ‘useful and interesting’ – Tsukeda will again look for ‘new talents and exciting films which have strong potential for both theater and video markets.’

She comes to the Toronto festival with an acquisition budget that allows for territory licensing fees ranging from $75,000 to $4.5 million.

‘The Japanese audience,’ explains Tsukeda, ‘is looking for any type of films: big science fiction films, action, love, romance, human drama, etc.’

However, she says, ‘family films and comedy are very difficult in the Japanese market.’

She adds that movie-going audiences in Japan are demographically ‘quite young,’ so that films which appeal to more mature audiences are also difficult sells at home.

Pony Canyon also gets involved in coproductions, potential business ventures that Tsukeda will also be exploring at this year’s festival.

As a producer and financial backer of features, Pony Canyon has backed titles such as Kama Sutra, Wilde, Chinese Box, The Soong Sisters and many Japanese titles including Beat, which was selected for Critics Week at the recent Venice Film Festival, and Samurai Fiction, which screened at the just-wrapped Montreal World Film Festival.