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Penguin Highway, Mind Game, Ride Your Wave Anime Screen at Japan Talkies in Kolkata, India
posted on by Adriana Hazra
Japan Foundation announced on Wednesday that its Japan Talkies film festival will screen the following films in Kolkata, India on multiple dates:
- Hiroyasu Ishida and Studio Colorido's Penguin Highway anime film on August 23 and August 30 at 4:00 p.m. IST.
- Masaaki Yuasa and Studio 4°C's Mind Game anime film on August 24 and August 31 at 4:00 p.m. IST.
- Masaaki Yuasa's Ride Your Wave anime film on August 25 and September 1 at 4:00 p.m. IST.
All the titles screening at the festival will screen on Auditorium 3 at Nandan, AJC Bose Road.
The story of the original penguin highway novel by Tomihiko Morimi centers on fourth grader Aoyama (Kana Kita) and a mysterious older woman (Yū Aoi), who is a dental assistant and also Aoyama's first crush. When a group of penguins appears in his quiet suburban neighborhood, Aoyama works to uncover the reason for their appearance.
Ishida, who directed Colorido's "Hinata no Aoshigure" and "Fumiko's Confession" shorts, directed the film as his first feature-length directorial work. Typhoon Noruda director Yōjirō Arai designed the characters for the film. Makoto Ueda, who wrote and supervised the scripts for anime adaptations of Morimi's The Tatami Galaxy and Night is Short, Walk On Girl novels, returned to pen the script for this film. Umitarō Abe composed the music.
Penguin Highway opened in Japan in August 2018 and ranked #10 in its opening weekend. The film won the "Axis: The Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation" award for Best Animated Feature at Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival in July 2018.
Japan Foundation's Northeast Japan Caravan screened the film in in Kohima, Nagaland, India on February 10.
The film features a variety of experimental visual styles. The story follows Nishi, who wants to become a manga artist and marry his childhood sweetheart, Myon, but Myon is already engaged to someone else. Nishi goes to visit her family and runs into a pair of yakuza, kicking off an adventure that involves meeting God and being trapped in the belly of a whale.
The film won the Best Animation Film award at the Shanghai International Film Festival's Golden Goblet Awards on June 23, and it also won the "Axis: The Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation" award for Best Animated Feature in Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival in July 2019. The anime screened in competition at Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France in June 2019. The film won the Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 52nd annual Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Spain in October 2019. The film then screened at the 39th annual Hawai'i International Film Festival in November the same year. The Annie Awards nominated the film for its "Best Direction – Feature" category in 2021.
Masaaki Yuasa directed the film at his Science SARU studio. Reiko Yoshida (Lu over the wall, A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird) wrote the film's script, and Michiru Ōshima (Patema Inverted, The Night is Short Walk On, Girl) composed the music.
The film also screened at the Northeast Japan Carnival on February 10.
Source: Email correspondence
