'Summer Ghost' To Screen At BFI Southbank This May
The impressive box-office taken in by the likes of Belle, Demon Slayer Mugen Train and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 has proven that anime fans are eager to get back to cinemas. So it was great news for fans in and around London that the iconic BFI Southbank would be hosting a major two month season dedicated to Japanese animation.
Distribution company Anime Limited have announced that the festival will include a screening of Summer Ghost this May. The 40-minute featurette marks the directorial debut of the 27-year-old artist loundraw, who has made an impact on the world stage as a visual concept illustrator on projects including I Want To Eat Your Pancreas and the recent series Vivy: -Flourite Eye’s Song. Summer Ghost also marks the first major release from Flat Studio, the studio founded by loundraw in 2019. It was released in Japanese cinemas in November of 2021.
Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryō are high school students who met online. An urban legend speaks of a "summer ghost," a spirit girl who appears when fireworks are set off.
Tomoya cannot live the life he envisioned for himself. Aoi cannot find her place in the world. Ryō has his once shining future suddenly pulled away. Each has their own reason for needing to meet the summer ghost. On a summer night when life and death cross paths, where will each of their emotions take them?
The film is described as 'bittersweet', and according to Anime Limited, it " is a profound exploration of a sensitive subject that is both emotionally resonant and handled with remarkable delicacy in its modest run-time, which shines a brighter light on the potential futures of loundraw and Flat Studio than any firework could." Colour us intrigued.
Summer Ghost will screen at BFI Southbank on May 12, 2022, in Japanese with English subtitles, and will be accompanied by a Q&A with the director. The film has also previously been announced to screen as part of the Cardiff Animation Festival, and will hopefully have further screenings elsewhere.
