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French-Japanese Film Ghost Cat Anzu to Screen at Cannes Directors' Fortnight
posted on by Anita Tai
The official website for Ghost Cat Anzu, Shinei Animation and France's Miyu Productions' 2D-animated film based on Takashi Imashiro's Bakeneko Anzu-chan manga, announced on Tuesday that the film will screen during the Directors' Fortnight at the 77th Cannes International Film Festival. The annual film festival takes place in France from May 14 to May 25.
The film will screen along with another Japanese film, Desert of Namibia.
The Directors' Fortnight is an independent film selection that runs parallel to Cannes, which differs from the official selection due to its relatively non-competitive nature. This year the selection will host a People's Choice Award.
The film opens in Japan on July 19.
The film screened as a work-in-progress at the Annecy Animation Festival in June 2023. The Paris-based CHARADES company is handling international sales. GKIDS has acquired the North American rights to the film. The company is also serving as executive producer and co-sales agent with CHARADES.
Yōko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita are directing the film and Shinji Imaoka is writing its script. Ghost Cat Anzu marks the directors' debut at Cannes. The film is 90 minutes long and utilizes mixed animation techniques combining 2D digital animation with rotoscoping
Miyu Productions describes the film's story:
Karin, 11 years old, is abandoned by her father at her grandfather's house, the monk of a small town in the Japanese countryside. Her grandfather asks Anzu, his jovial and helpful although rather capricious ghost cat, to look after her. The meeting of their strong characters causes sparks, at least at the beginning…
Kodansha published the one-volume Bakeneko Anzu-chan manga in 2007.
Shinei Animation is best known for producing Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan, two long-running television anime that both consistently rank among the highest weekly ratings for animated programs in Japan. Daikichirō Kusube founded the studio in 1976.
Update: Updated background information for GKIDS and film. Source: Email correspondence
Sources: Ghost Cat Anzu film's website, Variety (Elsa Keslassy), Eiga Natalie
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