A special screening of ChaO, the Annecy Jury Prize-winning new feature from Studio 4ºC will kick off the upcoming 18th edition of Japan Cuts, N. America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese Cinema. The well-reviewed movie is described as an imaginative and unpredictable fantasy set in a near-feature Shanghai where humans and merpeople exist. The story centers on an ordinary salaryman who is unexpectedly thrust into a diplomatic marriage with a mermaid princess. The visually stunning film was made with over 100,000 hand-drawn frames created over the course of seven years.
The film is the feature directorial debut of Yasuhiro Aoki, an animation veteran who was key animator on last year’s Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and animation director on Psycho Pass: The Movie. The film will officially open in Japan in August. GKIDS will release the movie domestically later this year.
Running July 10–20 at the Japan Society’s headquarters in New York City, Japan Cuts is co-organized by Japan Society’s Peter Tatara and Alexander Fee, and this year features three world premieres, nine North American premieres, and a host of special guests, receptions and live Q&As.
“We’re deeply proud to celebrate Japanese film in the heart of New York City,” said Tatara. “Each year, Japan Cuts presents a look into the contemporary Japanese cinema scene, spotlighting both major award-winners as well as rising stars, and we hope this festival helps build bridges between film lovers in New York and filmmakers in Japan — and more broadly between our two countries — with film a tremendous snapshot into modern Japan’s culture, values and soul.”
ChaO will screen on July 10 at 6 p.m. at the festival.
For more info, visit japansociety.org/film/japancuts
Watch the trailer below:
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