Ani-Marathon: Millennium Actress
Opens April 17, 2026
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.
Tickets
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Friday, April 17, 2026
Saturday, April 25, 2026
Monday, April 27, 2026
Based loosely on the life and work of Ozu muse Hara Setsuko, Satoshi Kon’s stunning sophomore feature is a kaleidoscopic, time-skipping portrait of a reclusive actor looking back on her career. The clever meta-movie follows a two-man documentary crew as they set about interviewing Fujiwara Chiyoko, a former studio star who withdrew from public life after retiring decades earlier. Her story transports the pair through a century of Japanese cinema and history, as past and present, memories and movie roles, start to blur. Kon co-wrote the script with Perfect Blue screenwriter Murai Sadayuki; as in that film, the boundaries between inner and outer realities are erased—albeit here in a more fanciful, less maniacal manner! Musician Hirasawa Susumu, long admired by Kon, wrote the electronic score. The film garnered much acclaim and shared (with Miyazaki’s Spirited Away) the prestigious Japan Media Arts prize for animation.
- Director: Satoshi Kon, Kô Matsuo
- Principal Cast: Miyoko Shôji, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Shôzô Îzuka
- Country: Japan
- Year: 2001
- Running Time: 87 min.
- Producer: Tarô Maki
- Screenplay: Satoshi Kon, Sadayuki Murai
- Cinematographers: Hisao Shirai
- Editors: Satoshi Terauchi
- Music: Susumu Hirasawa
- Language: Japanese
- Has Subtitles: Yes