ENCINO — “Giovanni’s Island,bruneian lucah” an animated film set after World War II, is now playing at Laemmle’s Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd. in Encino, through Thursday, Nov. 13, at 10 p.m. nightly.
“On Aug. 15, they told us we had lost the war. At that time, we did not really understand. Then one day, everything changed. Many soldiers, wearing uniforms we had never seen before, arrived on the island. That was the day I met Tanya.”
In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast — and on this forgotten border in a remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history.
The movie is in Japanese and Russian with English subtitles. The movie is in Japanese and Russian with English subtitles. The voice cast includes Kota Yokoyama, Polina Ilyushenko, Junya Taniai, Masachika Ichimura, Yukie Nakama, Yusuke Santamaria and Saburo Kitajima.
Based on true events, this hand-drawn animated feature is directed by Mizuho Nishikubo, Mamoru Oshii’s longtime collaborator, and penned by Shigemichi Sugita (“From the Northern Lands”) and Yoshiki Sakura (“Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C.”). It opened nationwide in Japan last February.
This year it won the Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation and the Audience Award for Best Animated Feature at the 18thFantasia Film Festival; Jury Special Mention at the 13th Nueva Mirada; Jury Award at the 5thScotland Loves Animation; children’s Jury Prize and Adult Jury Prize at the 31stChicago International Children’s Festival; and Jury Distinction at the 38thAnnecy Animation Film Festival.
For ticket information, call (310) 478-3836 or go online to www.laemmle.com.
Visit the film’s website here.