On July 3, don’t miss “Pompo the Cinephile” in theaters, an exhilarating and touching animated film about the making of a work of cinema.
On July 3rd, celebrate cinema as it should be with an animated feature film that will amaze you: Pompo the Cinephile! Based on the manga created by Shogo Sugitani, the film is directed by Takayuki Hirao, who was notably an assistant to the great Satoshi Kon on Millennium Actress.
Hollywood Universe
The story takes us into the fictional and colorful world of Nyallywood, the Mecca of cinema, a sort of alternative Hollywood. There we meet Pompo, the queen of successful commercial films. The day she decides to produce a more personal auteur film, she entrusts the production to her assistant Gene. Will he, who secretly dreamed of it, be up to the task?
The story will thus take us to the heart of the creation of a feature film with humor and kindness, exalting the desire for creation. Through the character of Gene, clumsy and lacking in self-confidence, the viewer will feel this creative flame that animates many young people who would like to be given a chance.
It is with this in mind that the director, Takayuki Hirao, wanted to stage Pompo the Cinephile. After working on the anime God Eater, the filmmaker felt frustrated at not having been able to achieve everything he wanted. In addition, he had a feeling of stagnation in the animation industry.
It was there that Yusuke Tomizawa, a producer with whom he had already worked, offered him the adaptation of the manga Pompo the Cinephile. “I didn’t have a specific idea for my new project, but I wanted to focus on the creative process itself.”explains the director.
With his producer, they therefore launch the machine with the aim of creating together “something about the process of creation and accomplishment. Pompo The Cinephile, a film about filmmaking, was the perfect project”souligne Takayuki Hirao.
Art House
Pompo and Gene Fini, heroes of the film
Realize his dreams
Thus, the plot takes place in the heart of a fictional Hollywood called Nyallywood. According to the director, in Japan, “Hollywood is seen as this unique place where people come together and work together with passion to make their dreams come true.”
For Yusuke Tomizawa and Takayuki Hirao, the importance lay in these values: transmitting this desire for creation and the will for self-denial required to achieve one’s dreams. “You might find it sentimental or naive, but I wanted to highlight the extraordinary power of collaboration through this film“, believes the filmmaker, who was inspired by the atmosphere in the world of animation to construct his film.
Moreover, in addition to exalting these beautiful values, Pompo the Cinephile does not ignore the moments of doubt or exhaustion linked to the making of a feature film, showing the good as well as the bad sides.
Thus, for children and adolescents, this feature film can be extremely inspiring and create vocations. In addition, by highlighting the different stages of creating a film, from shooting to editing to financing, it proves to be very educational.
“Turning a dream, a vision into reality, is not an easy thing, and not only in the field of cinema. To achieve it, you have to have an almost insane amount of persistence and energy. Sometimes you have to accept losing something important to you along the way, which is extremely difficult.”indique Takayuki Hirao.
Pompo the Cinephile was released in theaters on July 3.
