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Montreal's Fantasia to Host Int'l Premiere of Live-Action Gatchaman Film

Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival announced on Tuesday that it will host the international premiere of the live-action Gatchaman film on August 6, before the film opens in Japan. The festival will be held from July 18 through August 7.

Tori Matsuzaka (.hack//The Movie, live-action Kyō, Koi o Hajimemasu, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, Kamen Rider Decade) stars in the film as Ken, the head of the eponymous team. Gō Ayano (second-in-command Jō), Ayame Gōriki (explosive yoyo-wielding Jun), Tatsuomi Hamada (youngest member Jinpei), and Ryōhei Suzuki (main pilot Ryū) round out the cast.

The five serve as agents of the International Science Organization in Tokyo at the beginning of the 21st century. Galactor, a mysterious group whose technology far surpasses that of humans, has declared war on the entire world and has already subjugated half of it. A mysterious crystal-like object called a "stone," is humanity's only hope. Those who are able to draw out the power of the "stones" are forced to train as Earth's ultimate weapon, a five-person team called "Gatchaman."

Director Tōya Satō (live-action Grave of the Fireflies, Sexy Voice and Robo, Kaiji, Gokusen) is directing the film. Yūsuke Watanabe (20th Century Boys, Gantz, Bloody Monday, 2013 Dragon Ball Z film) wrote the script, and Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed films) is designing the characters. Takashi Yamazaki (Juvenile, Returner, Always: Sunset on Third Street, Ballad, Space Battleship Yamato, Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki) is handling the visual effects. The film will open in Japan on August 24.

The festival will also screen the following anime films:

• Kenji Kamiyama's 009 Re:Cyborg (inspired by Shōtarō Ishinomori's Cyborg 009 manga)
• Hitoshi Takekiyo's After School Midnighters
• Toshiyuki Kubooka's Berserk Golden Age Arc II: The Battle for Doldrey (based on Kentarō Miura's manga)
• Toshiyuki Kubooka's Berserk Golden Age Arc III: Descent
• Ujicha's The Burning Buddha Man (Moeru Butsuzou Ningen)
• Hideaki Anno's Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo
• Makoto Shinkai's The Garden of Words
• Eiichi Yamamoto's Kanashimi no Belladonna/La Belladone de la tristesse

The festival will also screen Masaaki Yuasa's Kick-Heart, Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Combustible, and Shuhei Morita's Possessions (Tsukumo) anime shorts.

The festival will also screen the following live-action films:

• Takashi Ishii's Hello, My Dolly Girlfriend (Figure na Anata, based on Ishii's own Mukuchi na Anata manga)
• Mika Ninagawa's Helter Skelter (based on Kyoko Okazaki's manga)
• Yūichi Fukuda's HK/Hentai Kamen (based on Keishuu Andou's manga)
• Yūichi Fukuda's I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow (based on Shunju Aono's manga)
• Takashi Miike's Lesson of the Evil and Shield of Straw
• Shinsuke Satō's Library Wars (based on Hiro Arikawa's light novel series)
• Keishi Ōtomo's Rurouni Kenshin (based on Nobuhiro Watsuki's manga)
• Hideki Takeuchi's Thermae Romae (based on Mari Yamazaki's manga)
• Ken Ochiai's The Tiger Mask (based on Ikki Kajiwara's manga)
• Yūichi Abe's Ultraman Zero: Revenge of Belial

The festival also announced its jury panelists for the Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation, which the festival launched in 2012. This year's judges include filmmaker Patrick Bouchard, filmmaker Luc Chamberland, and Ottawa International Animation Festival programmer and technical coordinator Keltie Duncan.