Soji ARAI

Set in the Arizona desert, Their Own Sake follows a Japanese sake brewer and his Navajo wife as they try to build a life together—and quietly lose themselves in the process. He struggles to make sake with water unlike anything he knows. She has returned to her hometown, yet no longer knows where home is. As their marriage begins to fray, both are forced to face what they have been holding on to. At its heart, Their Own Sake is a human drama about belonging, family, and acceptance: can we stop trying to make ourselves, each other, and the world into what we think they should be—and accept them as they are?

Soji Arai is a Japanese actor and producer whose work spans film, television, theatre, and international co-production. Working as an actor under the name Soji Arai and as a producer under his birth name, Sohee Park, he has built a career across languages, cultures, and borders.

As an actor, he has collaborated with directors including Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Guan Hu, Takashi Miike, and Danielle Arbid. He stars in the Canal+ international drama series Singapura, scheduled for global release in 2026, and has also appeared in Apple TV+’s Pachinko, HBO’s Tokyo Vice, and more.

As a producer, Park develops projects through his Tokyo-based company Esquisse Films. His latest producing and acting project, Chihiro | Akemi, won the Grand Prix at the 31st Split Film Festival and was selected for the Nippon Cinema Now section of the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival in 2026. His producing work also includes Route 7, a Japan–Korea co-production that won the Audience Award at the Busan International Short Film Festival and was selected as a Market Pick at Clermont-Ferrand; and The Penthouse, a feature psychological thriller co-produced between Malaysia, the Kyrgyz Republic, and the United States. He has also served as a juror for the Central Asian Competition at the Bishkek International Film Festival.

Their Own Sake brings together his experience as an actor and producer with questions of belonging, family, and living between cultures. In 2026, the project was selected for the AGT Cannes Japan Pitch, where it received a strong response. He now brings it to Busan through Global Track as the project moves toward international co-production.