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GENCO Streams 1st Minute From Rintarō's Short About Director Sadao Yamanaka

GENCO began streaming the opening one-minute scene from the "Yamanaka Sadao ni Sasageru Manga Eiga 'Nezumikozō Jirokichi'" ("Manga Cinema Dedicated to Sadao Yamanaka 'NEZUMIKOZO JIROKICHI'") film short by director Rintarō (Galaxy Express 999, Metropolis) on Thursday. The 24-minute short is Rintarō's first new directorial work in 14 years.

The short made its debut at the 1st Niigata International Animation Film Festival in March 2023. Montreal's 27th Fantasia International Film Festival then screened the short in July 2023. The short has since played at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Lumière Film Festival in France, and also screened this past September at the Japan Film Festival Los Angeles. The short will open at the Eurospace cinema in Shibuya on Saturday.

The 24-minute "silent animation" film depicts the behind-the-scenes story of the Nezumikozō Jirokichi - Edo no Maki (Nezumikozo Jirokichi - Edo Chapter) film by Sadao Yamanaka – a film director who died at 28 in 1938 – and Yamanaka's efforts to produce the film. Yamanaka spurred the Japanese film industry's transition from silent films to talkies.

Yamanaka's Nezumikozō Jirokichi - Edo no Maki film is about the titular character Nezumikozō Jirokichi, a thief who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, and a townswoman named Osuzu, who leads a tough life with her small child after her husband died.

Rintarō directed the "Manga Cinema dedicated to Sadao Yamanaka 'NEZUMIKOZO JIROKICHI'" silent animation film at GENCO, Studio M2, and French animation studio Miyu Productions. Katsuhiro Ōtomo (Akira) designed the characters, and Toshiyuki Honda (Metropolis,Tokyo Babylon) composed the music. Mami Koyama voices the film's benshi (live narrator for silent films).

Source: Comic Natalie