Yasuhiro Aoki, Studio 4°C's ChaO Anime Wins Annecy Film Festival's Jury Prize
GKIDS licensed ChaO, and it describes the story: Ōji Suzuka (Kimi ni Todoke, The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes) plays Stefan, a salaryman at a ship-making company. Anna Yamada (live-action Golden Kamuy, Saki) plays ChaO, the pure princess of the mermaid kingdom.The film also stars: Aoki (Kimagure Robot, Tweeny Witches) directed the film at Studio 4°C, and Hirokazu Kojima (Deadman Wonderland, Coyote Ragtime Show) is the character designer and chief animation director. Hiroshi Takiguchi (Ajin, The Case of Hana & Alice, The Garden of Words) is the art director. Takatsugu Muramatsu (Mary and The Witch's Flower, Phoenix: Eden17) composed the soundtrack. Toei is distributing the film.Kumi Kōda performs the opening theme song "ChaO!," written specifically for the film.The film premiered at the festival, which ran in France from June 8 to June 14. The JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film will screen the film on its opening night at New York on July 10. The film will then screen at the 29th annual Fantasia International Film Festival, which runs from July 16 through August 3 in Montreal.The film will open in Japanese theaters on August 15.Dandelion's Odyssey is the feature film directorial debut for Seto. (Its French title is Planètes, but is unrelated to the manga and anime of the same name.) Annecy describes the 75-minute film with no dialogue:The film previously won the International Federation of Film Critics' award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in May. Annecy describes "The Graffiti" ("Rakugaki"), a 13-minute black-and-white short: Sources: Annecy International Animation Film Festival (link 2), Deadline (Melanie Goodfellow)
