News
New York Int'l Children's Film Fest to Screen Chocolate Underground This Weekend
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The New York International Children's Festival (NYICFF) will screen the anime version of Alex Shearer's Bootleg novel on September 24 and September 25 at 11:00 a.m. at the IFC Center in New York City. The film opened in Japan in January 2009 under the satirical novel's Japanese name, Chocolate Underground.
Like the novel, the film and the earlier net-streamed version follow two English boys who create a bootleg chocolate factory after their country bans chocolate. Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Kimi ni Todoke) and Trance Arts (The Prince of Tennis) had premiered their anime version on Japanese mobile phones on Valentine's Day 2008. The theatrical release added 20 minutes of new footage. Takayuki Hamana (The Prince of Tennis, Library War) directed the project.
The film held its American premiere in Washington, D.C. last year, and was screened at the Royal/t café and gallery in Culver City, California in July.
The NYICFF hosts an annual festival in March but also hosts screenings and special events throughout the year.
Image © 2009 Chocolate Underground Production Committee
