Tokyo Godfathers

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

This heartfelt, oddball holiday adventure from celebrated anime director Satoshi Kon (Paprika; Perfect Blue) is a one-of-a-kind Christmas tale filled with laughs, action and gorgeous animation. In modern-day Tokyo, the lives of three homeless people – Hana, a flamboyant ex-drag entertainer; Gin, an alcoholic former bicycle racer; and Miyuki, a sullen teenage runaway – are changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. As the New Year fast approaches, these three forgotten members of society band together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child, whom they have grown to love, as well as the fate of her parents. Along the way, encounters with seemingly unrelated events and people force them to confront their own haunted pasts as they learn to face their future, together. (Dir. by Satoshi Kon and Shogo Furuya, 2003, Japan, in Japanese with English subtitles, 92 mins., Rated PG-13)