London and Paris-based outfit Film Constellation has boarded world sales on Neo Sora’s Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

The concert Film chronicles the final performance of Sakamoto, the Oscar-winning Japanese composer of The Last Emperor and Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, who died on March 28 aged 71. It will premiere out of competition at Venice on September 5. A first-look image from the film can be seen above.

Featuring just Sakamoto and his piano, it was shot without an audience in December 2022. As he was being treated for cancer in the years leading up to his death, the musician could no longer perform live concerts and reportedly mustered all his energy for this final performance.

Curated by Sakamoto and presented in his chosen order, a total of 20 pieces are performed in the film wordlessly to narrate his life through his music. The selection spans his entire career, from his popstar Yellow Magic Orchestra period to his iconic film scores for Bernardo Bertolucci and meditative final album, 12.

The film is directed by his son, Neo Sora, who is known for shorts such as The Chicken, which premiered at Locarno in 2020. Producers are Norika Sora and Eric Nyari for Japan’s Kab Inc, Albert Tholen and Aiko Masubuchi.

Executive producer is the UK’s Jeremy Thomas, with whom Sakamoto collaborated on 1983’s Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, which played in Competition at Cannes and won the Bafta for best score, and 1987’s The Last Emperor, which won an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy for best score, credited alongside David Byrne and Cong Su.

Thomas said: “I’m so delighted that Neo Sora’s film Opus will have the opportunity to be seen by audiences around the world, as Ryuichi’s final performance of his music is exquisite.”

Film Constellation CEO Fabien Westerhoff said: “Throughout his life, Ryuichi Sakamoto has continuously pushed the boundaries of music, paving the way for modern day electronica whilst creating some of the most iconic film scores in history.

Sakamoto was a jury member at the 70^th edition of Venice in 2013 and documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, directed by Stephen Nomura Schible, played out of competition at the festival in 2017.

His final film score was for Hirokazu Koreeda’s Monster, which played in Competition at Cannes in May after his death.

Film Constellation’s slate also includes Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman’s Coup!, which will close Venice’s Giornate degli Autori’s section; animation They Shot The Piano Player by Oscar-winner Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, set to play Toronto’s Centrepiece strand; and San Sebastian Competition drama Un Amor by Isabel Coixet.