The feature debut from writer-director Tomoka Terada, Maria, has been named the first winner of the Imagica Group Film Project, a newly established initiative designed to foster original Japanese filmmaking. The project was unveiled Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival, where the Tokyo-based post-production giant is marking its 90th anniversary.

Maria centers on an 18-year-old caregiver navigating poverty, pregnancy, and fractured family ties in a declining industrial port town. The film, which draws from Terada’s background as a social worker, presents a portrait of young people left behind by Japan’s aging society. The project will be produced by Hana Tsuchikawa of OLM, Inc.

The selection was made by a jury including Palme d’Or-winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters), who called Terada’s screenplay “realistic and well-written,” noting the jury’s unanimous support for the project. “It surprised me with its humor and clarity,” he said. “It didn’t feel like a debut.”

Imagica Group, a fixture in Japan’s post-production industry, is investing ¥70 million ($500,000) into the film’s production. The company will bring in additional Japanese corporate entities as co-financiers. The new program will support one film per year for five years, with an eye toward international festivals. Other jurors helping to select the winning titles include Tokyo International Film Festival programming director Shozo Ichiyama and Yuka Sakano of the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute.

At the press event in Cannes, Tsuchikawa emphasized the grounded, observational nature of the script. “What struck me about Maria is how it brings warmth to a story that’s not conventionally uplifting,” she said. “There’s honesty in how the characters try to survive.”

The Imagica Group Film Project is limited to producers affiliated with one of the company’s subsidiaries, though outside directors and writers may partner with eligible producers. This year’s competition drew 88 proposals. Maria was selected following a two-round evaluation process, with final jury deliberations concluding in April.

Terada, who is also currently employed as a social worker, has previously worked as an assistant director on Kore-eda’s Monster and Emma Kawawada’s My Small Land. In a recorded message, she reflected on the personal roots of the project. “These characters are people I’ve known, not invented,” she said. “I wanted to write something that comes not from me, but from the world I’ve observed closely.”

While the film is still in development, jury members expressed hope that the Imagica initiative will continue beyond its initial five-year plan — and possibly expand to support filmmakers across Asia. “It’s a strong start,” Ichiyama noted. “But it’s also a much-needed model for how the private sector can step in where institutional support is lacking [in Japan].”

“When I heard about this initiative, I thought: finally,” added Kore-eda. “There’s a gap in how new filmmakers in Japan are discovered and supported. A system like this, if it continues, could help address that.”