NEW YORK, NY, MARCH 7, 2012 –New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival has added the North American premiere of THE MONKEY KING: UPROAR IN HEAVEN to this year’s festival lineup. The film is a new frame-for-frame restoration and 3D rendering of the Wan Laiming masterpiece, a national treasure and China’s most celebrated and accomplished work of animation. The film had its world premiere at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival.

Composed of gorgeously flowing animation created by hand from over 130,000 ink drawings and an opulent soundtrack inspired by the Beijing Opera, the film follows the adventures of the magical Monkey King of Flower Fruit Mountain, a mischievous character who creates havoc by refusing to bow down to the authority of the Celestial Jade Emperor. After stealing a magic staff from the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, the cheeky Monkey King challenges the established order of heaven, freeing horses from the imperial stables, disrupting imperial banquets, and entering into epic battle with one colorful god after another – while snubbing his nose at the pompous formality of the heavenly court. Based on the classic Chinese story Journey to the West, the original film was made at the height of that country’s golden period of animation and was released a mere months before the before the entire film industry was shut down by the Cultural Revolution. This is a truly stunning work of animation and mythological storytelling, far surpassing anything China has produced before or since.

The film will play Sat, Mar 10 at 11:00am and Weds, Mar 21 at 6:30pm at Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. Tickets for all NYICFF events are now on sale at www.gkids.com. As in past years, all screenings are expected to sell out, so advance purchase is highly recommended.

3/17/2012- S.Barton

A Letter to Momo (Momo E No Tegami) is the second film from Hiroyuki Okiura, director of the internationally acclaimed Jin-Roh. The film took seven years of planning, writing, story-boarding; along with a powerhouse animation team, including: Toshiyuki Inoue (Akira), Ei Inoue (The Cat Returns), Takeshi Honda (Evangelion 2:0), Tetsuya Nishio (Ghost In the Shell 2). It’s an exquisitely hand-drawn animated film that is well worth the wait.

The last time Momo saw her father they had a fight. All she has left to remember him by is an incomplete letter, simply saying “Dear Momo”. Momo and her mother move from bustling city of Tokyo to the remote Japanese island of Shio. Momo searches for closure as tries to figure out her father’s last words. She soon discovers goblins living in her attic; a trio of mischievous spirits who have been assigned to watch over her. They cause her nothing but trouble, and she’s the only one who can see them.

The subject of loss is difficult to convey on film, yet alone in an animated one. Hiroyuki Okiura approaches it in a way that that is delicate and heartwarming. The goblins playful antics are charming, and provide a much needed sense of humor; making A Letter to Momo an instant classic.