Paprika

Part of Anime Expo Cinema Nights, presented by Anime Expo and Iconic Events

*This film will be presented in the English subtitled version.

Based on a novel by Japanese science fiction writer Yasutaka Tsutsui, the brilliant and unsettling animated thriller Paprika explores the space where dreams and reality collide in a kaleidoscopic mindscape. Techno-geek Kosaku Tokita has just invented the DC Mini – a revolutionary machine that allows scientists to enter and record a subject’s dreams. But an evil cabal steals the DC Mini and uses the device to create a mass nightmare, which causes all hell to break loose. Psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba uses her alter-identity, “dream detective” Paprika, to intervene. Entering the collective nightmare, she faces extraordinary danger thanks to a bizarre parade of appliances, toys, and kitsch objects. All of her intelligence and imagination are needed to escape this nightmare and defeat the evil “dream terrorist” behind the sinister plot.  Acclaimed filmmaker Satoshi Kon (Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue) expertly moves through the permeable boundaries separating fantasy and reality, confirming his reputation as one of the most innovative directors. (Dir. by Satoshi Kon, 2006, Japan, in Japanese with English subtitles, 90 mins., Rated R)