Presented by FACETS Anime Club, the Anime Auteurs series highlights 5 films from influential anime filmmakers on July 20-22.
The works shine a light on films that have helped make the art form into what we know today.
Anime Auteurs series returns for a 5-film deep dive into the work of anime legends whose cultural influence and boundary-pushing films have come to define the peak of the art form.
Anime has become a mainstay in American popular culture thanks to beloved series like Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, and Sailor Moon. For decades, however, filmmakers have been using the medium to expand our notion of what cinema can be and inspire both viewers and fellow artists alike. Literally translating to “author” in English, auteur theory originated as a concept in French film criticism to describe a filmmaker with an immediately recognizable style who returns to similar themes throughout their career. The filmmakers and stories in this year’s series lineup speak to this in their undeniably singular writing, directing, and animation styles.
The second annual Anime Auteurs series celebrates the global impact of anime and fan culture with 5 films made from the 1990’s through the early 2000’s. It kicks off on Thursday, July 20th with a members & series pass holders exclusive FACETS Anime Club screening of Takeshi Mori’s loving mockumentary about obsessive fans, Otaku No Video (1991) + a secret 9pm show.
The series continues on Friday, July 21st with a double feature highlighting the work of Shinichirō Watanabe and his collaborators on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001) and The Animatrix (2003), and closes out on Saturday, July 22nd with a night dedicated to Satoshi Kon’s explorations of stardom in Millennium Actress (2001) and Perfect Blue (1997).
Anime Auteurs is programmed by Emma Greenleaf, FACETS Marketing Manager and Nick Edelberg, FACETS Program Operations Manager.
Tickets can be purchased in advance through FACETS’ website.
Single Ticket: $12 /General & $10 /Member
Double Feature (Friday or Saturday): $15 /General & $13 /Member
Series Pass (5 screenings + 1 button & sticker): $40 /General & $34 /Members
LIMITED EDITION BUTTONS + STICKERS
Limited edition pinback buttons and stickers will be available for purchase at these screenings, or you can buy a Series Pass and receive them for free!
FACETS ANIME CLUB
This Film Club Member ($15/month or $150/year) exclusive perk includes a free monthly screening series that encourages community building and discussion around all things anime. Become a member today to join a community of cinephiles with exclusive access to rare, hard-to-find films and be the first to know about to all FACETS anime-related programming.
SERIES SCHEDULE
OTAKU NO VIDEO Thursday, July 20 @ 7:00 pm
Resistance is Futile! Prepare to be “Otakunized” after watching this ode to fan culture presented by FACETS Anime Club followed by a secret 9pm screening.
A true treat for true fans of any genre, Takeshi Mori’s Otaku no Video (“Fan’s Video”) is an outrageous mockumentary that combines the superb animation that made GAINAX one of Japan’s best-loved animation studios with truly strange interviews with “real animation fans.” The result is a thinly fictionalized history of GAINAX that segues into a truly strange SF adventure. (Description adapted from AnimEigo). Takeshi Mori. Japan. 1991. 100 minutes. In Japanese with English subtitles. This screening is exclusive to FACETS Film Club Members and Anime Auteurs Series Pass holders.
COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE Friday, July 21 @ 7:00 pm
After the unprecedented critical and commercial success of his 1998 Cowboy Bebop series, director Shin’ichirô Watanabe took this newfound global recognition and created a feature length film that captures the spirit of the source material remained beloved to this day.
What should have been an easy bounty turns into biological war after a terrorist gets ahold of a deadly virus. Drawn in by the pretty price on the mastermind’s head, Spike and the Bebop crew are ready to collect a much-needed reward. Unfortunately, the gang’s about to find themselves in more trouble than money when the terrorist threatens to unleash the virus on Halloween—effectively killing everyone on Mars. With little time and leads that seem more dreamy than helpful, they’ll have to use their own bag of tricks to stop a dangerous plot. (Description adapted from Funimation). Shin’ichirô Watanabe. Japan. 2001. 115 minutes. In English without subtitles.
THE ANIMATRIX Friday, July 21 @ 9:30 pm
Famously inspired by anime classics like Ghost in the Shell (1995) for their groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, the Wachowskis joined forces with seven world-renowned directors for this feature-length collection of nine original short films.
The Animatrix fuses computer generated animation with more traditional styles of anime to tell a wide range of stories set within the Matrix universe, producing one of the most creative and varied pieces of anthology filmmaking to date. Andy Jones, Mahiro Maeda, Shinichirō Watanabe, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Takeshi Koike, Kōji Morimoto, Peter Chung. United States/Japan. 2003. 102 minutes. In Japanese and English with English Subtitles.
MILLENNIUM ACTRESS Saturday, July 22 @ 7:00 pm
Satoshi Kon’s love letter to performance and the art of filmmaking follows a TV interviewer and his cameraman who meet a former actress and travel through her memories and career.
When the legendary Ginei Studios shuts down, filmmaker Genya Tachibana and his assistant are tasked with interviewing its reclusive star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who had retired from the spotlight 30 years prior. As she recounts her career, Genya and his crew are literally pulled into her memories where they witness her chance encounter with a mysterious man on the run from the police. Despite never knowing his name or his face, Chiyoko relentlessly pursues that man in a seamless blend of reality and memory that only Satoshi Kon could deliver. (Description courtesy of Eleven Arts) Satoshi Kon. Japan. 2001. 87 minutes. In Japanese with English Subtitles.
PERFECT BLUE Saturday, July 22 @ 9:00 pm
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Satoshi Kon’s brilliant examination of Japanese idol culture has become a true cult horror classic with tropes that are famously imitated but never replicated.
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. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima’s reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia. As her stalker closes in, in person and online, the threat he poses is more real than even Mima knows, in this iconic psychological thriller that has frequently been hailed as one of the most important animated films of all time. (Description courtesy of GKids) Satoshi Kon. Japan. 1997. 81 minutes. In Japanese with English subtitles.
ALSO READ: FACETS has launched the Chicago Alliance of Film Festivals
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