Kiki Ando Film Screenings

Inside Kiki Ando’s Whimsical Inspirations

July 28 – September 1, 2021

Join us for a special film series coinciding with the Kiki Ando: Highest Mountain and Deepest Bay exhibition! Taking place over three months, this film series features a selection of three films curated by Kiki Ando.

From Studio Ghibli’s environmental classic Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind to the magical vignettes in Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams and finally Paprika, the final feature-length animated film by acclaimed animator Satoshi Kon, each film ties into Ando’s aesthetic and the various influences on her practice.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ)

Dir Hayao Miyazaki / 1984 / 116mins / Cast: Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda / Japanese with English subtitles / PG

July 28, 6:30pm – 8:26pm

A thousand years after a great war, a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind is one of the only areas that remains populated. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley are engaged in a constant struggle with powerful insects called ohmu, who guard a poisonous jungle that is spreading across the Earth. Nausicaä and her brave companions, together with the people of the Valley, strive to restore the bond between humanity and the earth.

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (夢)

Dir Akira Kurosawa / 1990 / 120 mins / Cast: Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baisho,Toshie Negishi / Japanese with English subtitles / PG

August 17, 6:30pm-8:30pm

Unfolding in a series of eight mythic vignettes, this late work by Akira Kurosawa was inspired by the beloved director’s own nighttime visions, along with stories from Japanese folklore. In a visually sumptuous journey through the master’s imagination, tales of childlike wonder give way to apocalyptic apparitions: a young boy stumbles on a fox wedding in a forest; a soldier confronts the ghosts of the war dead; a power plant meltdown smothers a seaside landscape in radioactive fumes. Interspersed with reflections on the redemptive power of creation, including a richly textured tribute to Vincent van Gogh (who is played by Martin Scorsese), Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is both a showcase for its maker’s artistry at its most unbridled and a deeply personal lament for a world at the mercy of human ignorance.

Paprika (パプリカ)

Dir Satoshi Kon / 2006 / 90 mins / Cast: Megumi Hayashibara, Toru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori / Japanese with English subtitles / M

September 1, 6:30pm – 8:00pm 

Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a genius scientist by day, and a kick-ass dream warrior named PAPRIKA by night. In this psychedelic sci-fi adventure, it will take the skills of both women to save the world…

In the near future, a revolutionary new psychotherapy treatment called PT has been invented. Through a device called the “DC Mini” it is able to act as a “dream detective” to enter into people’s dreams and explore their unconscious thoughts. Before the government can pass a bill authorizing the use of such advanced psychiatric technology, one of the prototypes is stolen, sending the research facility into an uproar. In the wrong hands, the potential misuse of the devise could be devastating, allowing the user to completely annihilate a dreamer’s personality while they are asleep. Renowned scientist, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, enters the dream world under her exotic alter-ego, code name “PAPRIKA,” in an attempt to discover who is behind the plot to undermine the new invention.

A stunning achievement in animation, Paprika cements late director Satoshi Kon’s status as a titan of subversive, genre-bending anime madness.

KIKI ANDO PROGRAM

EVENT DETAILS

ADMISSION
Free; Bookings required
Online bookings open at 10am on the scheduled day.

VENUE
Palace Central
Level 3, Central Park
28 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008

ENQUIRIES
(02) 8239 0055

Header image: © Sony Pictures Classics.