Chimney Town: Frozen in Time (Japan) + Japanese Culture Showcase + Awards Ceremony
A special day celebrating Japanese cinema, with Nihon Buyo (Japanese classical dance), a Kimono Show, a Tea Ceremony, an awards program honoring outstanding directors and filmmaking teams, and a red carpet.
Video Message from creator Akihiro Nishino
Japanese Culture Showcase:
Nihon Buyo (Japanese traditional dance)
Kimono Show
Tea Ceremony
Awards Ceremony
Original Title: 映画 えんとつ町のプペル 〜約束の時計台〜
Genre: Animation
Country: Japan
Year: 2026
Duration: 98 min
Director: Yusuke Hirota
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Executive Producer / Original Story / Screenplay: Akihiro Nishino
SYNOPSIS: A story about finding the courage to believe again—until the moment he can meet his dearest friend once more. Lubicchi, a young boy, was deep in sorrow after losing his dearest friend, Poupelle. Just as he decides to stop waiting and start moving forward, he accidentally wanders into the “Millennium Fortress”—a mysterious realm that governs time. In this world, any clock that stops ticking is immediately discarded. However, there stands a strange clock tower that remains intact despite being frozen at 11:59. Lubicchi discovers that the only way to return to his own world is to “restart this stopped clock tower.
DIRECTOR'S BIO: Yusuke Hirota joined STUDIO4°C in 2001 and made his debut as computer graphics director on the TV series Piroppo (2001). He went on to help shape the visual style of acclaimed works including The Animatrix – BEYOND (2003), Genius Party – BABY BLUE (2007), Genius Party Beyond – MOONDRIVE (2008), and the Berserk: The Golden Age Arc trilogy (2012–2013). He co-directed Harmony (2015). His directorial debut, Poupelle of Chimney Town (2020), was seen by more than two million viewers. He supervised CGI for ChaO (2025). Chimney Town: Frozen in Time (2026) is his latest film as director.
Date
Video
Asian World Film Festival
The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), founded by Kyrgyz public figure Sadyk Sher-Niyaz and overseen by Executive & Program Director Georges N. Chamchoum, brings the very best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles to draw greater recognition to the region's wealth of filmmakers and strengthen ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries. Uniting through cross-cultural collaboration, the Festival champions films from over 50 countries across Asia plus atonomous Countries, spanning from Turkey to Japan and from Russia to India and South-East Asia. The Festival is unique in that it predominantly screens Oscar and Golden Globe submissions for Best International Feature Film and Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language respectively. All films that participate in the Festival will have a unique chance to be guided through the challenging awards season and showcased to members of the Motion Picture Academy, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and all Guilds for enhanced exposure, media attention and awards consideration.
Asian World Film Festival Los Angeles, 2023 - All Rights ReservedThe Asian World Film Festival is produced by Aitysh USA, a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization. (EIN: 47-3362394)
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