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Ride Your Wave, Human Lost Films Win Awards at Fantasia Int'l Film Festival

Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival revealed its winners for this year's festival on Thursday. Masaaki Yuasa and Science SARU's Ride Your Wave film won the "Axis: The Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation" award for Best Animated Feature, while Fuminori Kizaki and Polygon Pictures' Human Lost film won the the "Axis: The Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation" award as a Special Mention.

Ride Your Wave opened in Japan on June 21 and ranked at #9 in its opening weekend. The film won the Best Animation Film award at the Shanghai International Film Festival's Golden Goblet Awards on June 23. GKIDS will screen the film in theaters, and it describes the film:

From visionary director Masaaki Yuasa (The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, Devilman Crybaby) comes a deeply emotional new film that applies his trademark visual ingenuity to a tale of romance, grief and self-discovery.

Hinako is a surf-loving college student who has just moved to a small seaside town. When a sudden fire breaks out at her apartment building, she is rescued by Minato, a handsome firefighter, and the two soon fall in love. Just as they become inseparable, Minato loses his life in an accident at sea. Hinako is so distraught that she can no longer even look at the ocean, but one day she sings a song that reminds her of their time together, and Minato appears in the water. From then on, she can summon him in any watery surface as soon as she sings their song, but can the two really remain together forever? And what is the real reason for Minato's sudden reappearance?

Reiko Yoshida (Lu over the Wall, A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird) wrote the film's script, and Michiru Oshima (Patema Inverted, The Night is Short Walk on, Girl) composed the music. GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE performed the theme song "Brand New Story."

Funimation will screen the Human Lost film in theaters in the United States this fall before it opens in Japan. The anime is slated for global release in October and November. Anime Expo screened the North American English-subtitled premiere for the film earlier this month.

The film also screened out of competition at this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 14.

The "new sci-fi, cyberpunk film project" is an adaptation of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human novel. Funimation describes the film:

From the chief director of “PSYCHO-PASS,” director of “Afro Samurai,” and the studio that brought you “Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters.”
The year is 2036. A revolution in medical treatment has conquered death by means of internal nanomachines and the “Shell System”, yet only the richest can afford to partake.
Yozo Oba isn't the richest. Troubled by strange dreams, he flippantly joins his friend's biker gang on an ill-fated incursion to “The Inside”, where society's elite lives. This instigates a journey of terrifying discovery that will change Yozo's life forever.

Katsuyuki Motohiro (FLCL Alternative, Psycho-Pass) served as executive director. Fuminori Kizaki (Afro Samurai) directed the film at Polygon Pictures. Tow Ubukata (Fafner, Psycho-Pass 2) wrote the scripts. Yūsuke Kozaki (BBK/BRNK, Intrigue in the Bakumatsu - Irohanihoheto) designed the characters, and Kenichiro Tomiyasu (Resident Evil: Damnation) was in charge of concept art. MAGNET and Slow Curve are credited with planning, and Toho Visual Entertainment is distributing the film in Japan.

Dazai's original Ningen Shikkaku novel follows a young man's deepening alienation from the rest of the world, despite his attempts to maintain a cheery facade.

Sources: Fantasia Festival, Eiga Natalie