Controversial "Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows)" will be released on March 11, 2005.

This is a powerful home-alone drama, based on a real event, from director Hirokazu Koreeda whose "After Life" (2001) was a fantasy set in heaven. Youya Yagira, a 12-year-old non-professional, was the surprising but deserved winner of the best actor award at Cannes.
Keiko (YOU) is a feckless single mother who sub-contracts parental duties to her eldest boy, Akira (Yagira). He has to look after his siblings when his mother one day absconds, leaving them in an apartment with just a few funds. As Akira struggles to keep the family going, the children gradually slip into a dreamlike existence of unlimited playtime, junk food, and confused distress. They revert to an almost feral state, and it becomes obvious that tragedy cannot be far away.

Shooting over the course of 12 months, Koreeda gets fresh performances from the children. Instead of producing a conventional script, the director explained their lines to them on-set and let them improvise. He crafted this humane docu-drama about the loss of childhood innocence. Entirely shot on digital hand-held camera without any visual trappings. With just one principal location - a tiny apartment - and four child actors sharing the burden of the film's focus, this is a stunning technical achievement. Koreeda's flatness of tone that proves challenging, as he captures the emptiness of these lives without parental structure. In the end, though, neither the inevitable tragedy nor the moments of laughter are enough to shatter the film's placid surface.

The DVD comes with English subtitles, special featurettes, interviews, still photos by Koreeda, and a music clip "Hoseki."

"Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows)" ga dekirumade, the Making Of documentary,covers the yearlong shooting, interviews to child actors, and the reception at the Cannes Film Festival. Although this product has no English subtitles, there are full of insightful observations of the filmmaking and valuable behind-the scene footage. The soundtrack CD and other related item are also available.