The Abbotsford Film Society (AFS) presents a screening of Satoshi Kon’s animated, mind-bending Paprika on Friday, April 26.
The film, based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, follows Dr. Atsuko Chiba, aka Paprika, a dream detective.
Paprika has created a device that allows doctors to view a person’s dreams, intending to help psychiatric patients. When the device falls into the wrong hands, chaos ensues and only Paprika can save the day.
AFS president Aaron Dawson said he chose Paprika because it is Kon’s best known film.
“Kon was a prolific auteur in the realm of animation and his work was primarily aimed at an adult audience,” Dawson said. “It’s a visually stunning film. It’s like you’re watching this immensely creative person pouring their creativity through their pencil onto the animation cell.”
The 2006 film was Kon’s fourth and final feature film before his death in 2010.
It was nominated for several awards and won Best Animated Film from the Online Film Critics Society Awards, the Critic’s Choice award at Fantasporto, and the Public’s Choice award at the Montreal Festival of New Cinema.
Dawson said this is a great opportunity for audiences to experience a different side of animation that they are not used to seeing.
He notes that Japanese animators are truly dedicated to hand animation, citing the recent Oscar-winning The Boy and the Heron, which won Best Animated Feature Film and was primarily drawn by hand.
“Japan is one of the only markets that makes content for both adult and young audiences,” Dawson said. “It’s such an interesting way of storytelling and it really feels like Kon was pushing his creativity to the limit.”
Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the film starts at 8 p.m. at The Banquet Room (at Emmanuel Mennonite Church,) 3471 Clearbrook Rd. Admission is $7 at the door.
Guests are encouraged to use the Clearbrook Road entrance to the parking lot and enter on the north side of the building.
To learn more about the Abbotsford Film Society, find them on Facebook and Instagram or email abbotsfordfilmsociety@gmail.com
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