'A New Dawn' UK Cinema Screenings This November, Home Release In December

Japan surely releases more animated features than anywhere else. And luckily for anime fans, a large percentage of them make their way westward these days. Japanese animation has really become a hot commodity, popular both on streaming and increasingly in cinemas. There are plenty of intriguing looking anime movies that have been released or will be released this year. Among them is A New Dawn, which is about to make its debut in the United Kingdom.

Released in Japan in March, A New Dawn is a Japanese-French co-production, produced by Asmik Ace, Studio Outrigger and France's Miyu Productions. The film received its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it scored a nomination for the prestigious Golden Bear. It also screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June, winning the Contrechamps Jury Prize.

The film's UK premiere comes as part of this year's Scotland Loves Anime Festival. It will screen at Glasgow Film Theatre (in Glasgow, naturally) on November 7. There will be additional showings at London's Picturehouse Central on November 13 and at Cameo Picturehouse Edinburgh on November 21. A New Dawn will also be released on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital by Dazzler Media on December 14.

The film is the debut feature from Yoshitoshi Shinomiya who writes and directs, as well as serving as animation director and key animator. Shinomiya is already extremely respected within the industry for his past work. He previously worked as a background artist on Makoto Shinkai's films Your Name, Children Who Chase Lost Voices and The Garden Of Words, as well as Pompo: The Cinephile, Garden Of Sinners and Napping Princess. 

The plot centres on Keitaro, a teen living in an abandoned fireworks factory. He dreams of recreating the Shuhari, a mythical firework said to represent the universe, that was invented by his Dad before he mysteriously disappeared. When the local authorities target the factory for demolition, Keitaro is joined by his brother Sentaro and their childhood friend Kaoru. As they confront their memories and the legacy left behind by previous generations, they race against time to set off the Shuhari before the factory is destroyed.

A New Dawn has a very distinctive visual style. Yes, it looks like fairly standard anime at first, but characters have an almost 'posterised' look, with a kind of flatness and a lack of really strong outlines. This is contrasted with really beautiful, exquisitely painted backgrounds (Shinomiya's speciality). Together, it really looks gorgeous, and should be seen on the biggest screen available.

The film will be released in Japanese with English subtitles. It features the voices of Riku Hagiwara, Kotone Furukawa, Miyu Irino and Takashi Okabe. It's produced by Fumie Takeuchi, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal and Pierre Baussaron.

Tickets are available from here.