Leading animé artist and filmmaker Satoshi Kon (“Perfect Blue”) creates a blend of fantasy and reality in his latest film Millennium Actress.
In this unique epic adventure, the lines between the past and the present, and truth and fiction, are blurred when a documentary filmmaker fulfills his quest to find the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara and learn why she mysteriously vanished at the height of her brilliant career. When Chiyoko grants the filmmaker’s request for an interview, he, in turn, presents her with a token—a key she had lost and thought was gone forever. The filmmaker could not have imagined that the key would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life…but also his own.
“Millennium Actress” reunites director/screenwriter Satoshi Kon and screenwriter Sadayuki Murai, who first collaborated together on Satoshi Kon’s award-winning debut feature “Perfect Blue.” The film is produced by Taro Maki (“Tenchi Forever”). Susumu Hirasawa composed the score, and Takeshi Honda was the editor and director of animation. Satoshi Kon and Takeshi Honda also collaborated on the character design. MAD HOUSE—best known for releasing such highly acclaimed films as “Perfect Blue,” “Vampire Hunter D” and “Metropolis”—served as the animation company for the film. Since its opening in Japan, “Millennium Actress” has been honored with numerous awards. It garnered the Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival Grand Prize, and was also awarded the Fantasia Ground-Breaker Award for Artistic Innovation. “Millennium Actress” was also named the Best Animated Film at the FantAsia Film Festival in Montreal, Canada, and it was the first-ever recipient of the 2001 International Film Festival of Catalonia’s Orient Express Award spotlighting Asian genre films. In addition, the film has been an official selection at some of Asia’s most renowned film festivals, including the Pusan International Film Festival (Korea), the Bangkok International Film Festival and the Singapore International Film Festival.
“Millennium Actress” is the first film to be released under Go Fish Pictures, DreamWorks’ new distribution arm, and will initiate with a limited run in selected cities.
