“With a good lead, I can make any movie into a hit.”

Gene Fini works as assistant to the enigmatic Joelle Davidovich Pomponette, better known as simply “Pompo” An extremely talented movie producer, having inherited her grandfather’s connections and cinematic eye. Pompo refuses to produce anything other than trashy B-movies, until one day a script for an ambitious screenplay about the life of a composer and announces that Gene will earn his first directorial credit.

The film was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Indie Feature in the 49th Annual Annie Awards.

© 2020 Shogo Sugitani/KADOKAWA/Pompo Project

,wrBased on the manga series by Shogo Sugitani (also known as Ningen Plamo), serialized online via pixiv Comic website since April 2017. Pompo: The Cinéphile wears its heart firmly on its sleeve, and it’s tongue firmly in cheek.

A movie full of homages and references to cinema in all forms, from glittering oscar epics, all the way to to your favourite B-Movie wrapped in the bow of  making a movie in ‘Nyalllywood’.

Exactly 90 minutes long (the perfect movie length?) It’s a film about, well, making films. It’s also a collission of old and new, Developed by relative newcomer anime studio CLAP, but directed by veteran animator Takayuki Hirao (God Eater).

It’s also a visual feast, flitting between animation-like and cinematic style breezily, your eyes will be well fed. An ode to the power of cinema in all forms, and the joys and heartbreak of the creative process to get a project completed.