- Winner of Japan’s top animation prize, Colorful is a tender story about rebirth based on a 1998 novel by Eto Mori. After reaching a purgatory-like state after death, a dejected soul is placed in the body of a boy who has just committed suicide. The soul must figure out what his greatest mistake in his [...]Click to read more about this film »

- Based on the graphic novels of Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis is the poignant and hilarious biographical story of Marji: from a rebellious, heavy metal loving tomboy experiencing the turmoil of adolescence during the tyrannical Iranian revolution to a teenage exile in Vienna, Austria, where she discovers the benefits of freedom can also cause deep conflict. Returning [...]Click to read more about this film »

- Spearheading the recent trend of intelligent, political animation, Waltz with Bashir cleverly manipulates its unique style to interrogate the process of memory through traumatic experiences. One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari Folman about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. They conclude that there’s a [...]Click to read more about this film »

- A hilariously over-the-top tribute to the transforming robots of ‘70s Japanese television, K-RZ is an exciting action/comedy that will stir the heart of anyone who longs for justice dispensed with a swift robot karate kick! Following the death of his scientist father, secret police officer Yutaka Daimon inherits a mighty robot warrior named Zaborgar. Equipped [...]Click to read more about this film »

- Symbol is a sublime feat of surreal comic fantasy from cult Japanese filmmaker Hitoshi Matsumoto, whose debut Big Man Japan is also showing at LIFF25. A man wakes up and finds himself mysteriously trapped in an empty, white rectangular room, wearing clownish bright yellow polka dot pyjamas. His attempts to solve the puzzle and escape [...]Click to read more about this film »

- Never Make It Home chronicles the final tour of ‘insurgent country’ band Split Lip Rayfield, a barnstorming punk-bluegrass band led by hellraiser singer/guitarist Kirk Rundstrum. Kirk is diagnosed with throat cancer and given only months to live, but with steely determination and a passionate conviction to his craft, he sets out on a last tour, [...]Click to read more about this film »



