Project A-Ko

The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.

A thousand years after the war that stopped the robot uprising, a human-allied mech awakens to find the battle rages on in Brazil. In the new world, he and his fresh-faced human operator launch a plan to confront his old archnemesis and bring the age-old conflict to an end.

A-ko and B-ko are fighting as usual, as C-ko watches from the sidelines feeling neglected by both. Ayumi-sensei has been behaving strangely lately. She's wearing a heart-shaped crystal with a hexagram inside, and is chanting mysterious prayers in private. At the ruins of an ancient civilization, an archaeologist spies a hexagram among the hieroglyphics. Deep in outer space, an alien fleet is on a course for Earth, and its flagship bears the same hexagram shape.

Kohata Anime Studio is a place full of dreams where animation is made. Baja was raised in this studio by the people who create animation. Floating in a pond outside are his friends the ducks. One night, when all the people are no longer at the studio, Baja takes a peek outside and finds that his duck friends are being attacked by a cat. Will Baja be able to save his friends? A wondrous night adventure begins.

In the heat of the summer lays a lonesome house in the countryside where nine year old twin brothers await their mother’s return. When she comes home, bandaged after cosmetic surgery, nothing is like before and the children start to doubt whether this woman is actually who she says she is.

Kyuta, a boy living in Shibuya, and Kumatetsu, a lonesome beast from Jutengai, an imaginary world. One day, Kyuta forays into the imaginary world and, as he's looking for his way back, meets Kumatetsu who becomes his spirit guide. That encounter leads them to many adventures.

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

Shaun lives a supremely uneventful life, which revolves around his girlfriend, his mother, and, above all, his local pub. This gentle routine is threatened when the dead return to life and make strenuous attempts to snack on ordinary Londoners.

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

Retired porn star Milos leads a normal family life trying to make ends meet. Presented with the opportunity of a lifetime to financially support his family for the rest of their lives, Milos must participate in one last mysterious film. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem.