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London Festival Screenings Mind Game, Cleopatra and Millennium Actress

posted on by Andrew Osmond
Cleopatra screening on October 22, Millennium Actress on October 25, Mind Game and live panel on October 26

The LEA (London East Asia) Film Festival runs from October 19 to 29, and includes a section on "The Centenary of Japanese Animation", with screenings of Cleopatra, Queen of Sex, the 2004 Masaaki Yusasa film Mind Game (right) and the 2001 Satoshi Kon film Millennium Actress.

Cleopatra, Queen of Sex will be screened on Sunday October 22 at 7 p.m., and can be booked here. It will be shown at Picturehouse Central cinema near Leicester Square station. Released by Mushi Production in 1970, Cleopatra, Queen of Sex was co-directed by Osamu Tezuka and Eiichi Yamamoto. The story combines science-fiction, comedy and sexual content. In the film's story, three people from the future are spiritually sent back in time to relive the era of Caesar, Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. As close companions to these key historical figures, they seek to understand the nature of an enemy's plan in their own time. It is part of the Animerama trilogy of Mushi Pro films with adult sexual content.

The free screening of Mind Game will take place on Thursday October 26 at 6 p.m., and can be booked here. It will also be followed by a free Panel Talk on "The Centenary of Japanese Animation" (book here), featuring Helen McCarthy, programmer Dr. Jasper Sharp and Nag Vladermersky, the founder of London International Animation Festival. Both events will take place at the London Film School at 24 Shelton Street near Soho (map).

Based on a manga by Robin Nishi, Mind Game 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.

There will also be a free screening of Satoshi Kon's 2001 Millennium Actress will be screened on Wednesday October 25 at 6 p.m., also at the London Film School in Shelton Street (see Mind Game above). It can be booked here.

Paramount Pictures, which briefly streamed the film last year, describes the story:

Following up on his highly acclaimed animated psychological thriller Perfect Blue, Satoshi Kon spins this mystery about a documentary filmmaker and a legendary actress. In honor of Gin Ei studios 70th anniversary, a small production house run by Genya Tachibana is selected to make a commemorative documentary. Genya decides to focus his film on actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, a massive star who at the height of her popularity retreated from public life. Accompanied an eager young cameraman, Genya doggedly tracks her down to discover her living a hermit-like life of charmed isolation. He also learns that in spite of her advanced age, she has lost little of her famed charm or elegance. As he interviews her, Genya learns of Chiyoko's troubled past and eventually the reasons for her sudden retirement.

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