GKIDS and Fathom Events have teamed up to bring Japanese animation company Studio Ponoc’s animated anthology Modest Heroes: Ponoc Short Films Theatre, Volume 1 to U.S. theaters this January.
This feature-length collection of three short films is the latest project from Studio Ponoc (Mary and the Witch’s Flower), the new Japanese animation studio founded by two-time Academy Award-nominee Yoshiaki Nishimura (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There) and featuring many artists from the venerable Studio Ghibli.
“Studio Ponoc is delighted to partner once again with GKIDS and Fathom Events to bring our Modest Heroes to fans and new audiences in the United States,” said Studio Ponoc founder and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura.
Watch the trailer for Modest Heroes: Ponoc Short Films Theatre, Volume 1 here…
In Kanini & Kanino, directed by Academy Award®-nominee Hiromasa Yonebayashi (When Marnie Was There, Mary and The Witch’s Flower), two crab brothers embark on a grand underwater adventure to find their father, after an accident carries him far downstream. Depicted as tiny beings in a large and merciless natural world, the brothers must evade a series of freshwater predators if they are ever to reunite with their family again.
In Life Ain’t Gonna Lose, acclaimed animator Yoshiyuki Momose (key animator on Isao Takahata’s films at Studio Ghibli, and animation director of the video game “Ni No Kuni”) makes his directorial debut with a very different kind of story. Eight-year-old Shun loves baseball and to run. Only eggs defeat him. With the love of his strong-willed mother (Maggie Q), Shun faces the challenge of an everyday life threatened by a deadly allergy.
Lastly, in Invisible (the directing debut of Akihiko Yamashita, a talented key animator on many of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s best-known films) a man wakes up one morning and goes through his day in a world where no one can see him. But just when he seems to have reached his limit, a momentous decision gives him the chance to reclaim his humanity.
Modest Heroes: Ponoc Short Films Theatre, Volume 1 will be released in U.S. cinemas on January 10th and January 12th 2019. Visit the official site for more info and tickets.
