John Cho, Parker Posey, Haley Lu Richardson, Michelle Forbes, and Rory Culkin star in the Indiana-set drama Columbus.
Columbus marks the feature directorial debut of Kogonada, who has been noted for his visual work and film criticism commissioned by the Criterion Collection and Sight & Sound.
The movie is being produced by Superlative Films and Depth of Field in association with Nonetheless Productions. Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano, Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Aaron Boyd, Ki Jin Kim, and Giulia Caruso serve as producers. Superlative Films is financing the pic.
The film is currently shooting in Columbus, Indiana, which the director said inspired him due to its modern architecture.
“After visiting the town, I felt an immediate sense for a film that would take place there, which would implicitly explore the promise of modernism (an ongoing quest for me),” he said. “The story revolves around a man and young woman from opposite sides of the world, each mourning the potential loss of a parent.”
Cho plays the estranged son of a prominent architectural critic. Richardson is the daughter of a recovering addict, who finds solace in the architecture that surrounds her. Forbes portrays her mother. Posey plays a former student who’s dating Cho’s character’s father.
“I initially fell in love with Kogonada’s work through the exquisite montages he did for Criterion and the BFI,” Weitz said. “He was clearly a filmmaker with exacting taste and an impeccable vision.”
Cho stars in “Star Trek Beyond” and Posey is in “Cafe Society.” Richardson appears in “The Edge of Seventeen” and Forbes stars in “Orphan Black.”
Renfrew Behrens launched Superlative Film in January as an equity fund and strategic partner for independent films and documentaries. Its other titles include: “Lucky,” starring Harry Dean Stanton and David Lynch, “Humor Me,” with Elliott Gould and Jemaine Clement, and “The House of Tomorrow,” toplined by Ellen Burstyn, Nick Offerman, Asa Butterfield, Alex Wolff. and Maude Apatow.
Depth of Field was founded in 1999 following brothers Chris and Paul Weitz’s breakout directorial debut, “American Pie.” Their credits include “About a Boy,” “In Good Company,” “A Single Man,” “Grandma,” and Judy Greer’s directorial debut, “A Happening of Monumental Proportions,” currently in post-production.
