Japan 1997, 81 min, Dir: Satoshi Kon
Japanese with subtitles
New Restoration
Rising pop star Mima has quit singing to pursue a career as an actress and model, but her fans aren’t ready to see her go. Encouraged by her managers, Mima takes on a recurring role on a popular TV show, when suddenly her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harbouring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima’s reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia.
Hailed as the first animated film to feature an authentic psychological suspense story, this film was acclaimed at international film festivals and was released in theatres in Japan in 1998. Blending a play within a play, the story unfolds as fiction and reality, dreams and delusions, and cyberspace intertwine—like an optical illusion. It is being re-released into theatres with a new 4k restoration.
