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La nueva edición tendrá como eje temático el cruce entre el humor y lo fantástico. © Sitges

Apuntad en vuestra agenda cinéfila: del 9 al 19 de octubre, la ciudad costera de Sitges volverá a metamorfosearse en la capital del cine fantástico. Hoy, durante la rueda de prensa celebrada en la Fàbrica Moritz Barcelona, Ángel Sala y Mònica Garcia i Massagué, Director Artístico del Festival y Directora de la Fundación, respectivamente, han ofrecido el primer gran anticipo de la programación del Festival de Sitges 2025, con el cruce entre el humor y el género fantástico como hilo conductor.

En su edición número 58, el Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya inaugurará con Alpha, el nuevo largometraje de la cineasta francesa Julia Ducournau, que se convierte en la tercera mujer en inaugurar Sitges después de que lo hicieran Mary Harron y Ana Lily Amirpour. Esta vez, su nueva película explora un mundo distópico que funciona...

Last Friday saw the birth of the ChatGPT browser, which already promises to visualize your data, coach your workouts, and trade your stocks; we must now contend with Velvet Sundown; and before the summer’s out, we expect the quantum leap of ChatGPT-5. It felt like a good time for In Development to offer some optimism to anyone worried AI might soon take over all that’s good in Hollywood.

I’m certain AI is transforming the entertainment industry for better and worse. I have zero faith in Hollywood’s ability (or inclination) to “control” it, if that were possible. AI can radically increase output and reduce costs (and: jobs), and of course, the industry will follow that path until it hits a wall.

So where’s the optimism? I think I found a wall.

The insight isn’t solely mine. Credit goes to Ethan Helvering at audience intelligence firm...

In the crowded field of animated romance, few films dare to make their central love interest a giant orange fish with destructive tendencies. Yet this is precisely the bold choice that marks Yasuhiro Aoki’s feature directorial debut, “ChaO,” a film that takes the familiar mermaid romance template and gleefully dismantles it piece by piece.

Set in a meticulously crafted futuristic Shanghai where humans and merpeople have achieved an uneasy coexistence, the story follows Stephan, a lowly shipping company employee whose dreams of designing flying machines are interrupted by an unexpected marriage proposal from ChaO, a mermaid princess who appears as an enormous fish on land.

Aoki, whose animation credentials include work on “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and “Digimon,” brings a veteran’s understanding of character design and world-building to this Studio 4°C production. The film positions itself as both romantic comedy and ecological parable, using the premise of interspecies romance to explore themes of acceptance,...

Osaka, Japan, was the site of Expo ’70, and emblematic of that memorable event is the sculpture/building Tower of the Sun, envisioned and designed by renowned artist Taro Okamoto, “the Japanese Picasso”, a challenger of conventions driven to liberate creative expression for one and all. His works and ideas inspired director Ryo Fujii and the team behind the 2022 TV series Taroman, broadcast on the Nhk network. Painstakingly recreating the tropes and aesthetics of 1970s tokusatsu superhero shows, Ultraman in particular, the series purported to be an obscure archival find. The result was a sublime mix of public art education, nostalgic invention, and gleeful weirdness for its own sake. With such big ideas, and such a gigantic protagonist, Fujii and friends simply had to revive Taroman for the big screen. With its World Premiere at Fantasia, Taroman Expo Explosion has arrived, and with a big bang!

Garo: Taiga Marks The 20th...

Toei Movie's official YouTube channel is now streaming an animated music video for "ChaO!," the theme song for Studio 4℃'s new original anime movie ChaO , performed by Japanese singer Kumi Koda . The clips consist of various scenes from the film featuring the main characters. Kumi Koda "ChaO!" Animated Music Video Additionally, a new poster visual featuring the main characters has also been revealed. Related: ChaO Anime Movie Shares Insert Song Clip ChaO begins its theatrical run in Japan on August 15, 2025. Yasuhiro Aoki directs the film at STUDIO4℃ . Hirokazu Kojima provides the character designs and serves as animation director, while Hiroshi Takiguchi serves as art director. Toei distributes the film in Japan. As reported , the film won the Jury Award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2025. The festival's official website describes the synopsis of ChaO as such: In a near-future world where humans and mermen coexist, Stephen, a shipping engineer in Shanghai,...

Indisputably the standout of the Asian selection at the 2025 Annecy Animated Film Festival, “ChaO” won the second-highest award there and proved to be a crowd-pleaser. The film is a wacky mix of zany comedy and heartfelt drama, set against the backdrop of a timely ecological parable.

Although the story takes place in a vaguely futuristic Shanghai where humans co-exist with mermaids (called that way even though they look rather like giant fish), the picture spends little time on worldbuilding. Instead, it focuses on its main character, Stephan, a rather average low-level office employee working for a megalomaniac shipbuilding tycoon. Stephan has dreams of designing a flying machine, but what good could that be for a company specialising in seafaring? One day, the mermaid king’s daughter, Chao, publicly announces her love for Stephan – even though they have never even met. This plunges our hapless hero into a highly publicised whirlwind...

The official website for Studio 4℃'s new original anime movie ChaO posted a two-minute clip featuring the film's insert song "Anata no Tame ni" ("For You"). The emotional song is sung by the mermaid princess Chao, voiced by actor Anna Yamada. As can be seen from the lyrics, "I want to dance for you, I want to make dreams come true with you," the song is filled with Chao's single-mindedness devotion. In the video, Chao, who has transformed from a fish into a “mermaid,” dances and sings in the water as if to express her love for Stefen. Insert Song "Anata no Tame ni" Clip Related: ChaO Anime Movie Releases Main Trailer, Visual ChaO begins its theatrical run in Japan on August 15, 2025. The film's soundtrack album including the insert song will be available two days earlier, August 13. Yasuhiro Aoki directs the film at STUDIO4℃ . Hirokazu Kojima provides the character designs and serves as animation director,...

The E-Soul arc in To Be Hero X probably had the most surprising ending so far. Even though fans were supposed to connect with Yang Cheng as the latest E-Soul, it was clear that no one sympathized with him after the final twist. The duel in episode 7 also ended in the old E-Soul’s death.

Although the original E-Soul’s death was never actually shown, it was revealed that the Trust Values of both E-Souls had merged, confirming that the original hero had died.

The most despicable death in To Be Hero X The original E-Soul’s death was tragic and unfair | Credits: BeDream, Bilibili

To Be Hero X recently revealed that the competition to become X is held every year. Due to the emergence of new heroes every other day, rankings differ on a yearly basis. The top ten rankings also differ radically, and the fact that the original...

Upcoming original theatrical anime film ChaO has won the Jury Award at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival which ran this year from June 8 – 14, 2025 in Annecy, France. This marks the first time in about 8 years that a Japanese film has won the Jury Award, with the last Japanese film to win the award being In This Corner of the World in 2017. ChaO has also been submitted for competition at the Fantasia International Film Festival , which runs from July 16 – August 3, 2025, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ChaO begins its theatrical run in Japan on August 15, 2025. ChaO movie poster Related: ChaO Anime Movie Releases Main Trailer, Visual Yasuhiro Aoki directs the film at STUDIO4℃. Hirokazu Kojima provides the character designs and serves as animation director, while Hiroshi Takiguchi serves as art director. Toei distributes the film in Japan. Gkids distributes the film in the United States, and describes ChaO as follows: In a...

The biggest week in the world of animation wrapped up Saturday as the 2025 edition of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival drew to a close with what should have been a high-spirited awards ceremony in which “Arco” took home the Cristal for an animated feature. While there was lots of applause, hand shaking and celebrating by the night’s winners, there was also a great deal of reflection from many of the people who took the stage on the night.

Given the escalating violence in Gaza, Israel and Iran, the festival’s closing ceremony had a more somber feel to it than it normally would, addressed directly by feature jury member and Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi (“The Siren”) at the awards ceremony.

After saying she wished she could celebrate the great films she saw this week, she addressed something far more urgent:

”Something else has taken me away. Sometimes, being part of the cinema family,...

Arco, a French animated feature about of unexpected friendship and the fate of a world impacted by climate change, has won the Cristal for best film at this year’s Annecy film festival.

The feature debut of famed French illustrator Ugo Bienvenu, which premiered in Cannes and counts Natalie Portman among its producers, follows Arco, a 10‑year‑old boy from the year 2932 who inadvertently travels back in time, via a rainbow, to 2075, where he encounters Iris, a young girl living through environmental collapse. Their burgeoning friendship becomes a tender yet urgent bond across time, rooted in innocence, curiosity and shared heartbreak. In her rave Hollywood Reporter review, Lovia Gyarkye called Arco “a considered meditation on ecological disaster within the dulcet grooves of a charming story about adolescent friendship.”

‘Endless Cookie’ Courtesy of the Annecy Film Festival

The top prize for the Contrechamp sidebar section went to Endless Cookie, a Canadian...

Ugo Bienvenu’s French feature Arco won the Cristal award for best feature film at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Produced by Felix de Givry for France’s Remembers and Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas for US firm MountainA, the film is co-written byt Bienvenu and de Givry.

Scroll down for the full list of feature winners

Arco depicts an eponymous rainbow who crash lands on near-future earth from the year 3000. A little girl who witnesses his fall helps him to return home.

It debuted as a Special Screenings title in Official Selection at Cannes last month.

The Jury...

Animated feature ChaO is will open Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film on July 10 in New York.

Fresh from its world premiere at the Annecy festival and ahead of its Japanese theatrical release in August, ChaO will be the Opening Night film for Japan Cuts.

ChaO is produced by Japanese animation outfit Studio 4ºC and presented in partnership with Gkids.

Studio 4ºC was founded in 1986 and has produced titles like Mind Game and Tekkonkinkreet, and also co-produced ThunderCats with Warner Bros. Animation.

Japan Cuts, North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema, will mark its 18th edition this year and run from July 10 to 20.

Directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, ChaO is a hand-drawn cyberpunk fairy tale set in near-future Shanghai where humans coexist with mermen.

The film follows Stephan, a regular office worker at a shipbuilding company, who is suddenly proposed to by Chao – a princess from the mermaid kingdom.

The upcoming 18th edition of Japan Cuts, North America’s largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema, will kick off with a special screening of ChaO, the hotly anticipated animated feature debut from director Yasuhiro Aoki.

Produced by Studio 4ºC, the avant-garde animation house behind Mind Game and Tekkonkinkreet, ChaO reimagines a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale through a cyberpunk lens, transporting audiences to a near-future Shanghai where humans and mermen coexist. The story follows an ordinary salaryman who is unexpectedly thrust into a diplomatic marriage with a mermaid princess, triggering a whirlwind of political absurdity and emotional discovery. With over 100,000 hand-drawn frames created over the course of seven years, Aoki’s film is described as a visually extravagant and emotionally idiosyncratic passion project. Japan Cuts is hosting the special screening ahead of the film’s theatrical release in Japan in August. Gkids has acquired domestic theatrical rights.

Running July 10–20 at...

Exclusive:Best Friend Forever has taken on international sales rights to Japanese fantasy romantic comedy animation ChaOahead of its world premiere in competition at this week’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

The Brussels-based company will handle sales outside of Asia, France, North America, Latin America and the UK for the debut feature from Yasuhiro Aoki. Set in a world where humans and mermaids co-exist, the film follows a quiet office worker whose routine life is disrupted when he is offered the chance to marry a mermaid princess named Chao.

GKids has already acquired North American rights while Eurozoom is handling...

In a historic legal decision last year, a Michigan jury found the parents of a 15-year-old school shooter responsible for the deaths their son had caused. Could they have prevented it? Based on an upsetting true story, director Eric Lin’s “Rosemead” focuses on a Chinese single mother who takes drastic measures to deal with her son’s dark impulses, substituting one tragedy for something equally unthinkable. Even more shocking than the film’s outcome is the career-redefining performance given by lead actor Lucy Liu, who explodes the slinky action-figure box that “Charlie’s Angels” and “Kill Bill” built around her, revealing the erstwhile “Ally McBeal” star in a completely different light.

As recently widowed Irene Chao, Liu trades her signature strut for a self-effacing shuffle, using makeup not to accentuate her beauty but to downplay it. In “Rosemead” (named for the east Los Angeles neighborhood where this true story took...

The official website for Studio 4℃'s new original anime movie ChaO released a main trailer and poster visual today. The tagline on the visual reads "The world is made of love and miracles." The trailer begins with a scene in which Stephen, an ordinary office worker, is surprised when the princess of the mermaid kingdom, Chao, suddenly proposes marriage to him. In the latter half of the clip, Chao shows her human form for the first time. The clip also introduces the film's theme song "ChaO!" provided by Japanese singer Kumi Koda . ChaO Main Trailer Main poster visual Kumi Koda previously sang the theme song for "Tatoe Kimi ga Sekaiju no Teki ni Nattemo" ("Even If You Become an Enemy of the World"), one of the omnibus film works Amazing Nuts! which director Yasuhiro Aoki worked on in 2006. At the time, Koda said to Aoki that she hoped to make...

Star Trek: Tng had an ensemble cast, and more or less all of them got equal focus throughout the seven seasons. With a large main cast, some actors will definitely lose out on storylines. Actress Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar, reportedly did not want to just stand as a background actor and left the show in season one.

However, one must wonder if a different actor might have stuck on to the part, and the show itself might have been completely different. According to a casting memo, Crosby was not even in the top five list for the character, and one of the actresses who did make the list, Rosalind Chao, ultimately played Keiko O’Brien.

Star Trek’s casting memo includes Rosalind Chao for Tasha Yar and another character for Denise Crosby Denise Crosby in Star Trek: The Next Generation | Credits: Paramount

The starting seasons of Star Trek: Tng...

On the original casting call for "Star Trek: the Next Generation," authored in the late months of 1986, the Enterprise's security chief was to be a Latina character named Macha Hernandez, said to be modeled after the character Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) from James Cameron's then-recent film "Aliens." Indeed, there was a brief attempt to hire Goldstein for the role, until writer D.C. Fontana pointed out that she wasn't actually Latina. The character was renamed Tanya as a result, then eventually Tasha. The new Tasha Yar was given an intriguing backstory. She was a survivor of an ambitious Earth colony that had, through greed and mismanagement, completely collapsed. She lived among lawlessness, rampant sexual abuse, and poverty before escaping and joining Starfleet.

Denise Crosby was ultimately cast as Tasha Yar, and the show's producers gave the character a position on the bridge, ensuring that Yar would always be on camera. Crosby,...

Upcoming original theatrical anime film ChaO published four additional trailers today featuring five characters from the upcoming movie: Shi (voiced by Ryota Yamazato), Juno (voiced by Shunsei Ota), Editor-in-Chief (voiced by Anna Tsuchiya), King Neptunus (voiced by Kenta Miyake) and Ambassador Omede (voiced by Cookie!). The film begins its theatrical run in Japan on August 15, 2025. ChaO Shi Character Trailer ChaO Juno & Editor-in-Chief Character Trailer ChaO King Neptunus Character Trailer ChaO Ambassador Omede Character Trailer Related: ChaO Anime Movie Unveils Four Character Trailers Yasuhiro Aoki directs the film at STUDIO4℃. Hirokazu Kojima provides the character designs and serves as animation director, while Hiroshi Takiguchi serves as art director. Toei distributes the film in Japan. The Annency Film Festival's official website describes ChaO as follows: In a future society where humans and mermaids coexist, Stephan, a regular office worker at a shipbuilding company, is suddenly proposed to by Chao – a princess from the mermaid kingdom!

Upcoming original theatrical anime film ChaO published four character trailers today introducing some of the main members of its cast, including: Stephan (voiced by Ouji Suzuka), Chao (voiced by Anna Yamada), Maibei (voiced by Kavka Shishido), and Roberta (voiced by Yuichiro Umehara). The film begins its theatrical run in Japan on August 15, 2025. ChaO Stephan Character Trailer ChaO Chao Character Trailer ChaO Maibei Character Trailer ChaO Roberta Character Trailer Related: ChaO Anime Movie Reveals 7 new Voice Cast Members Yasuhiro Aoki directs the film at STUDIO4℃. Hirokazu Kojima provides the character designs and serves as animation director, while Hiroshi Takiguchi serves as art director. Toei distributes the film in Japan. The Annency Film Festival's official website describes ChaO as follows: In a future society where humans and mermaids coexist, Stephan, a regular office worker at a shipbuilding company, is suddenly proposed to by Chao – a princess from the mermaid kingdom! With no...

To Be Hero X has become one of the best superhero-genre animated series, with its unique take on what it truly means to be one. We witness the protagonists evolving from being hopeful to struggling to deal with the much darker side of being a hero. Their personalities are more nuanced than a typical bright-eyed protagonist.

The most unique aspect of To Be Hero X is that it follows two protagonists, Lin Ling and Yang Cheng. The former was the placeholder for Nice after the original’s death and is now The Commoner. The latter, on the other hand, is the new E-Soul after quite a thrilling series of events.

The director of To Be Hero X, Haoling Li, admits that the most complex character isn’t the first protagonist, Lin Ling, but rather Yang Cheng. His development is more intense. What makes his story more complicated than the other...

To Be Hero X isn’t the common fluffy anime that I expected it to be. Under the limelight of heroes, it shows greedy and power-hungry people who can do anything. The heroes are merely constructs to earn money, and even villains are orchestrated. In this world, romantic relationships do not always end well.

Lin Ling’s affection for Moon had won me over completely. His love and appreciation for her were heart-melting. But the illusion wasn’t up for too long because pretty soon Moon was disposed of, and her death and murderer are still mysteries.

Savor Yang Cheng and Xia Qing’s sweet chemistry while you can

To Be Hero X‘s new focus is Yang Cheng, who acquired the powers of E-Soul. But apart from his hero arc, fans are also focused on his romantic life. He has a huge crush on Xia Qing, but his meek...

Exclusive: Magnify has bolstered its Cannes sales slate with international rights to Pete Ohs’ recent SXSW genre-bender The True Beauty Of Being Bitten By A Tick.

The Narrative Spotlight premiere stars Zoë Chao, whose credits include Bubble & Squeak, as a young woman whose idyllic rural escape unravels after a tick bite triggers a series of unsettling transformations.

The cast includes Callie Hernandez, Jeremy O. Harris (The Sweet East), and James Cusati-Moyer (Maestro).

Ohs, Hernandez, Harris, Chao, and Cusati-Moyer co-wrote the screenplay, and the producers are Ohs, Hernandez (Invention), Harris (Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.), and Josh Godfrey...

Seth Rogen in “The Studio,” now streaming on Apple TV+. Photo Credit: Apple TV+ Great news for fans of sharp Hollywood satire! Apple TV+’s hilarious and star-studded comedy, The Studio, starring Seth Rogen, has officially been picked up for a second season. Since its global debut, The Studio has struck a chord with both audiences and critics, earning accolades as the “best new comedy of 2025” and a spot among Hollywood’s most perceptive self-portraits. It’s simple to understand why! Following Matt Remick (Rogen), the recently appointed head of Continental Studios, the program comically explores the chaotic world of filmmaking amidst a scene of competing egos, demanding artists, and ongoing pressure to produce something – anything – that will resonate. Rogen, who also co-created, wrote, directed, and executive produced the series alongside Evan Goldberg, perfectly captures the absurdity and underlying anxieties of the industry. The stellar ensemble cast, including Catherine O’Hara,...

The team behind Freakier Friday, the sequel to Disney's 2003 comedy Freaky Friday starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, have promised that the upcoming movie will correct the most "problematic" part of the original. The follow-up comes more than two decades after the first film, and while the sequel aims to retain many elements that made the body-swapping film so popular, Freakier Friday director Nisha Ganatra has admitted that she had the "complicated" task of reassessing the first film and making some necessary changes.

Ganatra told Entertainment Weekly that her Freakier Friday checklist included fixing the 2003 film's "hurtful" Asian stereotypes. She felt the past portrayal of two characters in particular needed to be addressed, making reference to Chinese restaurant owner Pei-Pei (Rosalind Chao) and her mother (Lucille Soong), who famously served Anna (Lohan) and Tess (Curtis) the magical fortune cookies that led to their body-swap. Chao and Soong are both...

The team behind Freakier Friday, Disney’s upcoming sequel to its 2003 body-swap comedy, has acknowledged that elements of the original film relied on stereotypes, particularly in its depiction of Asian characters. Director Nisha Ganatra and actor Manny Jacinto, both of Asian descent, say the new film takes a different approach.

Ganatra said she had long held concerns about the earlier film, particularly a pivotal scene set in a Chinese restaurant. “I remember watching it and feeling torn, mostly about the Asian representation, and also the soundtrack that was being used,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “It was something I brought up right away when I had my first meetings with the producers. I had a moment of the presentation that was like, ‘Problematic Asian representation!’”

In the 2003 film, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan play a mother and daughter who argue during a dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Pei-Pei, the restaurant owner played by Rosalind Chao,...

Although the upcoming Freaky Friday sequel might transport some audiences back to the early aughts, one unfortunate aspect of the Og will stay in the past.

Freakier Friday director Nisha Ganatra recently opened up about the “complicated” task of updating the “beloved” original 2003 film’s Asian representation following “some stereotypes that were hurtful.”

“I remember watching it and feeling torn, mostly about the Asian representation, and also the soundtrack that was being used,” Ganatra told Entertainment Weekly. “It was something I brought up right away when I had my first meetings with the producers. I had a moment of the presentation that was like, ‘problematic Asian representation!'”

In Freaky Friday, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan) have an argument during a family dinner at a Chinese restaurant, which is overheard by the eatery’s owner Pei-Pei (Rosalind Chao) and her mother (Lucille Soong), who intervenes with...

Asian members of the team behind “Freakier Friday,” Disney’s upcoming sequel to the 2003 comedy “Freaky Friday,” agree that the original film featured some “hurtful” choices surrounding its Asian characters. But in the new film, releasing in August, they sought to “make it right.”

In the 2003 film, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan play a mother and daughter who are constantly at odds. When they get into a loud argument at a Chinese restaurant, owner Pei-Pei (Rosalind Chao) tells her mother (Lucille Soong) to stay out of it, but Soong’s character intervenes, offering Tess (Curtis) and Anna (Lohan) a platter of fortune cookies. “This isn’t really a good time,” Anna says, but Pei-Pei’s mother insists, before speaking in hurried Chinese. To shut her up, Tess and Anna take the cookies, which turn out to be magical, leading them to switch bodies until they can better understand each other.

“Freakier Friday” director Nisha Ganatra said her upcoming “Freaky Friday” sequel will correct the 2003 film’s “hurtful” stereotypical portrayal of two Asian characters and Asian cultures.

While she recognized that “Freaky Friday” is a “beloved” film, she acknowledged that it depicted stereotypes “that were hurtful overall.”

“I remember watching it and feeling torn, mostly about the Asian representation, and also the soundtrack that was being used” in the scenes at the restaurant, Ganatra explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It was something I brought up right away when I had my first meetings with the producers. I had a moment of the presentation that was like, ‘problematic Asian representation!'”

The harmful depiction in question is related to the film’s general story plot of how Lindsay Lohan’s Anna and Jamie Lee Curtis’ Tess swap bodies. In the film, after watching the mother and daughter go at it...

The director of Freakier Friday wanted to do one thing very differently from the original movie. Nisha Ganatra set out to remove the Asian stereotypes from the sequel to the Noughties classic.

Though Freaky Friday is beloved, some have commented on the Asian stereotypes present within the film. The reason Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Anna (Lindsay Lohan) body-swap is because of some fortune cookies given to them by an old Chinese lady. Anna later calls this out with a yell of, “She did something, some strange Asian voodoo.” To a modern-day audience, that line could be interpreted as racist by some viewers.

Back in the Noughties, there was not as much concern with casting in Hollywood about anti-racism and Asian representation... but now, massive strides have been made. Ganatra wants to continue those strides. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, she described the Asian portrayal in the first movie as "complicated,...

The official website for Studio 4℃'s new original anime movie ChaO released a new video today introducing seven additional voice cast members and their characters. The new cast includes: Shi , president of the shipbuilding company where Stephen works, is voiced by Ryota Yamazato (comedy duo Nankai Candies member) Maibei , a woman who supports Chao when she is unfamiliar with life on earth, is voiced by singer Kavka Shishido Roberta , Stephen's friend and inventor, is voiced by Yuichiro Umehara (Goblin Slayer in Goblin Slayer ) King Neptunus , Chao's father and leader of the mermaid kingdom, is voiced by Kenta Miyake (All Might in My Hero Academia ) Juno , a rookie reporter who is following the history of humans and mermaids, is voiced by Octpath member Shunsei Ota The editor-in-chief of the newspaper Juno works, is voiced by actor Anna Tsuchiya Ambassador Omede , a representative of the parliament that promotes talks between humans and...

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 8-14), the world’s oldest and most prestigious animation festival, announced this year’s lineup, both in and out of competition, American studio presentations, special celebrations (including a tribute to Hungarian animation), and honorary awards.

This year’s highlights include Sylvain Chomet’s highly-anticipated 2D Marcel Pagnol biopic, “A Magnificent Life,” which will be a part of the official competition and released domestically this year through Sony Pictures Classics; sneaks of Andy Serkis’ “Animal Farm” and Genndy Tartakovsky’s R-rated, 2D “Fixed” (streaming on Netflix); and special previews of Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” Pixar’s “Elio,” DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys 2,” Sony Picture Animation’s “Goat,” Paramount Animation’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants,” and Netflix’s “In Your Dreams.”

Meanwhile, Annecy 2025 introduces a new short film program, Midnight Shorts, and launches the Annecy Dome, a new 32-seat venue for immersive works.

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the world’s most important week in global animatioon, returns to the French Alps this June 9-15, hosting visionary directors, groundbreaking films and a burgeoning number of established and emerging studios and voices from around the world.

This year’s edition is one of the most ambitious yet, marked by a rich blend of themes, powerful political storytelling and a notable emphasis on independent animation. As fest art director Marcel Jean notes, “The quality of independent animation has increased in a most spectacular way,” which is evident across this year’s programming, particularly in the Official Competition and Contrechamp Feature categories.

Below, the 10 features selected in both the Official and Contrechamp sections and a quote from Jean explaining why they were picked, followed by several highlights from today’s announcements. The festival’s popular Work in Progress lineup was unveiled earlier this month.

2025 Feature...

Annecy, the world’s leading animation film festival, unveiled its official program on Wednesday, with a line-up that includes features from some 20 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas and a range of styles, from the big-budget 3D computer animated feature Into the Mortal World from Chinese director Zhong Ding; to the hand-drawn title Balentes by Italian filmmaker Giovanni Columbu, and the digital cut out animation of Mexican filmmaker Aria Covamonas: The Great History of Western Philosophy.

Covamonas’ debut premiered at the Rotterdam festival, and Annecy’s 2025 lineup features a best-of selection of recent fests, including Berlinale highlights Lesbian Space Princess and Tales from the Magic Garden, and several features premiering in Cannes next month, including The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol from The Triplets of Belleville director Sylvain Chomet; Dandelion’s Odyssey from Japanese director Momoko Seto; and Death Does Not Exist from Canadian filmmaker Felix Dufour-Laperrière.

‘Lesbian Space...

France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 8-14) will preview upcoming animations including Zootopia 2, Animal Farm and the Stranger Things animated series as part of its 2025 lineup.

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, director Michel Gondry andacclaimed UK animator Joanna Quinn will receive honorary Cristal awards.

Gondry will present his Berlinale 2025 title Maya, Give Me a Title as a special screening.

Scroll down for the full list of competition films, screening events and studio showcases

Also attending are Andy Serkis for what the festival described as a ‘special premiere’ of his animated feature adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm,...

Keiko O’Brien is one of Star Trek’s more underrated characters and has proven it in some top episodes!

Played by Rosalind Chao, Keiko O’Brien started as a minor character, the love interest for transporter chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) on Star Trek: The Next Generation. When O’Brien joined Deep Space Nine, Keiko, by now his wife, joined him. At first just popping up in brief scenes, Keiko got some nice spotlights helping O’Brien.

Many of her episodes are more about her supporting O’Brien during his many tribulations over DS9. Now and then, Keiko got more of a spotlight. She was part of one of the weirder Star Trek plot turns when she became pregnant, but an accident meant Major Kira had to carry the baby to term.

So, for those who do enjoy Keiko, here’s a look at her best showcases in Star Trek...

Meet Chao! Toei Animation has revealed the first look teaser trailer for the new anime movie called ChaO, arriving to watch in Japanese theaters this August. ChaO is one of many new projects in the works from the animation house called Studio 4°C in Japan. They also made Children of the Sea a few years ago, and have the upcoming All You Need Is Kill movie in the work as well. This summer, you can meet a new generation of mermaid princesses you have never seen before! ChaO is a kind of a funny spin on The Little Mermaid, with quite a few anime twists. A love story between a mermaid and a human, directed by animation veteran Yasuhiro Aoki. The film will star two actors Osamu Suzuka and Anna Yamada. Suzuka voices the role of Stefan, an ordinary businessman who falls for her, and Yamada will play the role of Chao,...

The official website for Studio 4℃'s new original anime movie ChaO released a teaser trailer and visual today, announcing the movie will theatrically release August 15, 2025 in Japan. ChaO Teaser Trailer Teaser Visual The site also announced the film's two leading voice cast members — Ouji Suzuka as the human protagonist, Stefan, and Anna Yamada as ChaO, a princess from the mermaid kingdom. Suzuka has appeared in high-profile live-action series such as the TV drama silent and the Netflix drama Kimi ni Todoke . He is also an exclusive model for Japanese men's fashion magazine Men's Non-no. He previously voiced the protagonist character Kaoru Touno in the 2022 anime film The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes . Yamada is known as the main heroine Asirpa in the Golden Kamuy live-action series. While she made a guest voice appearance in the 2012 film Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker in the past, this is the first...

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine always put Chief O'Brien through a wringer but how do you rank the worst experiences for him? 

When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began in 1993, a great link to The Next Generation was Chief Miles O'Brien. Colm Meaney had been a popular recurring face as the transporter chief on the Enterprise and moving him to the new spinoff helped get attention.

O'Brien had a great presence on DS9 as the chief engineer of the station, good friendships with Dr. Bashir, and it was wonderful seeing him and his wife Keiko (Rosalind Chao) raise a family. However, for some reason, the DS9 writers seemed to have it in making O'Brien suffer over the course of the series.

We're not talking about the typical Trek bits of enduring disasters or attacks or such. No, for O'Brien, the poor guy had to be put through some brutal experiences...

Although LGBTQ representation was few and far in between among the headliners at this year’s SXSW, several indie darlings broke the industry’s cis-heteronormative mold to stand out.

From Special Jury Award winner Fucktoys, multi-hyphenate Annapurna Sriram’s bold celluloid fever dream of a feature debut, to The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, co-writer/director Pete Ohs’ captivating model for cooperative filmmaking, there’s a glimmer of hope that the future of the industry lies in the hands of a new generation of marginalized folk with the right amount of passion, vision and ingenuity.

While catching up with Sophia Bush about her upcoming One Tree Hill revival in the works at Netflix, the actress emphasized the importance of LGBTQ representation in media as the Trump administration continues to dismantle Dei.

“I think 2025 sucks for everyone, to be clear, but what I think is worrisome, particularly for us,...

Pete Ohs is bringing the horrors of domesticity to the screen in his third collaboration with Jeremy O. Harris. Ohs, who previously edited Harris’ documentary “Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.” and is helming the upcoming indie “Erupcja” starring Harris and Charli Xcx, directs and co-writes SXSW feature “The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick.” This is the first film to be released by Harris’ new production company, bb².

Zoë Chao leads “The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick” as a grieving woman who spirals into paranoia after being (as the title teases) bitten by a tick while on vacation. Chao co-wrote the film with Ohs, Harris, and fellow actors Callie Hernandez and James Cusati-Moyer. Ohs, Hernandez (in her third collaboration with Ohs after by “Obex” and “Jethica”), and Harris and Josh Godfrey of bb² all produce as well.

The official synopsis reads: “After a tragic event,...

"Star Trek: Section 31" takes the franchise on a road less traveled by bringing back "Star Trek: Discovery" standout Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and putting her in charge of a heist. Unlike the "Star Wars'" take on the heist movie theme in 2016's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the often more idealistic and pacifistic "Trek" opts for a far more light-hearted route. "Star Trek: Section 31" is B-movie trash in the best possible way, as the Academy Award winning Yeoh rocks her fallen tyrant character's new role as the head of arguably the most ragtag team a "Star Trek" project has ever given fans.

Among the key members of the film's Section 31 special ops team is the unpredictable and intense Fuzz, who probably wouldn't be a main character in just about any other "Star Trek" film. Fuzz is played by South African actor Sven Ruygrok, a rising star who's been making...

Things are about to get a bit fishy during the summer season of 2025, because a new full length theatrical anime film, entitled ChaO , has been announced by animation studio STUDIO4℃. The main staff and a teaser image (below) have been revealed for the film. Related: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to Hold US Premiere of Inu-Oh in August Yasuhiro Aoki directs the film at STUDIO4℃. Hirokazu Kojima provides the character designs and serves as animation director, while Hiroshi Takiguchi serves as art director. Toei will distribute the film in Japan. The story of ChaO is described as follows: A future society where humans and mermaids coexist. Stephen, an office worker, is suddenly asked to marry by Chao, a princess of the mermaid kingdom! A 100% pure love story! Source: STUDIO4℃ on X (formerly Twitter)...

In the Creature Commandos season finale, as Princess Ilana goes for a morning swim, The Bride tells Nina that she's the one who must go into the water and kill the woman destined to bring about the end of the world.

However, just as Nina is about to deliver the killing blow, Weasel runs into the water to warn the Princess. The distraction is enough for Ilana to spot Nina, disarm her, and repeatedly stab the most pure-hearted member of Task Force M to death.

It's a tragic end for a great character and actor Zoë Chao has now broken her silence on Nina's shocking demise.

"I'm like, what compelling storytelling, James Gunn, does it again," she said of her reaction to learning Nina would die in the finale. "He gets you right in the heart. You often, in stories like this, lose your favorite characters sometimes, or the ones...

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Creature Commandos

The season finale of Creature Commandos dropped on Max today, wrapping up the story of Task Force M and their mission in Pokolistan once and for all. After plenty of intrigue, premonitions about the end of the world, and tragic backstories for each member of the Commandos, the series ends on one last sad note with the death of what was perhaps the most innocent member of the team, Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao). Nina's death came after her attempt to assassinate Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova), in which the Princess ended up stabbing her to death instead.

The death was somewhat unexpected, especially with all the development the character had been given in the previous episode. In an interview with The Direct, Chao spoke about why she believed this untimely and tragic death had to happen to a...

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A fun piece of trivia, culled from Larry Nemecek's invaluable sourcebook "The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion": the character of Tasha Yar on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was originally conceived as a Latina character named Lieutenant Macha Hernandez, intended to be the tactical officer on board the Enterprise-d. Lieutenant Hernandez was largely inspired by the military grunt character Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) from James Cameron's "Aliens," a film that was still new at the time. Indeed, Goldstein was briefly considered for the role but was quickly turned down when it was revealed she wasn't Latina. After some further development, Hernandez was changed to Tanya, then Natasha, then just Tasha Yar after casting had begun. The character went from being a tactical officer to a security chief.

A wide swath of actresses auditioned for the role of Tasha,...

Rosalind Chao had a recurring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Keiko O'Brien, the wife of Chief Miles O'Brien [Colm Meaney]. When Meaney moved to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, so did Chao. She actually appeared in more episodes on Deep Space Nine than she did in The Next Generation, but that didn't give her much more to do.

Her character was a minor one, and there were no standout stories for her, with the exception of Deep Space Nine's "The Assignment" when Keiko was possessed by a Pah-wraith who then tried to convince O'Brien to attack the Prophets. But had she gotten the role she was the actual favorite for, things might have turned out quite differently for her.

According to an April 13, 1987 memo to John Pike from John Ferraro provided by Letters of Note, regarding the casting of Star Trek: The Next Generation characters, Chao...

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Sonic the Hedgehog 3!On the heels of bringing in a handful of new characters with the latest installment, franchise writers Josh Miller and Pat Casey reveal a Sonic the Hedgehog character they hope to introduce in the future. While Keanu Reeves' Shadow the Hedgehog and Jim Carrey's Gerald Robotnik were the big selling points for the new movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 3's cast introduced a few other key game characters, including Alyla Browne's Maria Robotnik, a non-verbal Amy Rose and army of Metal Sonics. The latter two were saved for a credits scene to set up the next movie.

During a recent interview with Collider to discuss Sonic the Hedgehog 3's release, Miller and Casey looked to the future of the franchise and which characters they'd like to introduce. The duo began by praising their working relationship with Sega, calling...

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 brings new villains, alliances, and high-speed action to the big screen this December. The super-powered team formed in the previous film - consisting of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles - alongside their adoptive parents, Tom and Maddie, face their biggest threat yet: Shadow, an escaped military experiment played by Keanu Reeves. The John Wick actor joins an already star-studded cast, with returning appearances from actors like Jim Carrey, Idris Elba, James Marsden, and Ben Schwartz.

This time around, Jim Carrey actually plays two characters in Sonic 3 - a reprisal of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, as well as Gerald Robotnik, the former's grandfather. Team Sonic must form a hasty alliance with their former rival in order to try to take down Shadow, while also dealing with Gerald's own plans and influence over Ivo. Comedian Ben Schwartz, who plays Sonic, is known for a variety of projects, from playing Jean-Ralphio...