US: Satoshi Kon's Classic Animated Feature 'Tokyo Godfathers' Comes to Theaters Nationwide on March 9 and 11

Tokyo Godfathers

Tokyo Godfathers

GKIDS, the acclaimed distributor of multiple Academy Award-nominated animated features, and Fathom Events announced today that "Tokyo Godfathers," the critically-acclaimed animated feature from director Satoshi Kon ("Perfect Blue," "Paprika"), will return to theaters in a new 4K restoration this March.

[GKIDS previously re-released a remastered version of Satoshi Kon's groundbreaking psychological thriller "Perfect Blue" in 2018 in partnership with Fathom Events.]

ASIFA-Hollywood recently announced that Kon would posthumously receive the Winsor McCay Award, the organization's award for lifetime achievement in animation, at their upcoming 2020 Annie Awards ceremony, and a new stage play based on "Tokyo Godfathers" has just been announced by the New National Theatre, Tokyo, to be performed during the theater's 2020-21 season.

In modern-day Tokyo, three homeless people's lives are changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. As the New Year fast approaches, these three forgotten members of society band together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child and the fate of her parents. Along the way, encounters with seemingly unrelated events and people force them to confront their own haunted pasts, as they learn to face their future, together.

GKIDS and Fathom Events will present "Tokyo Godfathers" in select movie theaters across the U.S. on Monday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m. (local time, English-language subtitled) and Wednesday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. (local time, English-language dubbed). For a complete list of theater locations, visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

"We are pleased to partner with GKIDS to bring this wonderful re-release to American cinemas," said Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt. "Anime fans nationwide will once again be able to enjoy the brilliant work of Satoshi Kon in their local theaters among likeminded audiences."

More About "Tokyo Godfathers":

(via Wikipedia)

"One Christmas Eve, three homeless people – a middle-aged alcoholic named Gin, a former drag queen named Hana, and a dependent runaway girl named Miyuki – discover an abandoned newborn while searching through the garbage. Deposited with the unnamed baby is a note asking the finder to take good care of her and a bag containing clues to the parents' identity. The trio sets out to find the baby's parents. The baby is named Kiyoko (清子), based on the Japanese translation of Silent Night literally meaning "pure child", as she is found on Christmas Eve.
Outside a cemetery, the group encounters a high-ranking yakuza trapped under his car. The man happens to know the owner of the club where Kiyoko's mother used to work; his daughter is getting married to the club owner that day. At the wedding, the groom tells them that the baby's mother is a former bar girl named Sachiko. He gives them Sachiko's address, but the party is interrupted when a maid, revealed to be a Latin American hitman in disguise, attempts to shoot the bride's father. The hitman kidnaps Miyuki and the baby and takes them back to his home. There, Miyuki befriends the hitman's wife and shows her some pictures of her family.
Hana searches for Miyuki and Kiyoko while Gin takes care of an old homeless man who is dying in the street. After giving Gin a little red bag, the old man peacefully passes away. Some teenagers show up and beat up Gin and the dead old man. Meanwhile, Hana finds the girls and they go off to find a place to stay.
They go to Hana's former club. Gin, who was rescued by another member of the club, is also there. The trio sets out to find Sachiko's house, but they discover that it has been torn down. They are informed of the unhappy relationship between Sachiko and her husband, who is a gambling alcoholic. The group rests at a store until they are told to leave by the clerk. Hana collapses, and is taken by Gin and Miyuki to the hospital. Once at the hospital, Gin finds his daughter, who is also named Kiyoko, working as a nurse. Hana berates Gin in front of his daughter and storms out of the hospital, with Miyuki following behind with baby Kiyoko in hand.
Hana and Miyuki find Sachiko about to jump off a bridge. Sachiko insists that her husband got rid of the baby without her knowledge, and that they return the baby to her. Meanwhile, Gin finds Sachiko's husband, who confirms a TV report Gin saw earlier that Kiyoko was actually stolen by Sachiko from the hospital. They chase after Sachiko and the baby. After an intense car chase, Miyuki chases Sachiko to the top of a building. Sachiko reveals she became pregnant in hopes it would bring her closer to her husband. When her baby was stillborn, she decided to kidnap Kiyoko from the hospital, thinking, in her grief, the baby was hers. As Sachiko is about to jump off the building, her husband comes out of his apartment, located just across the street, and begs her to start over with him. Sachiko jumps off nevertheless, but Miyuki manages to catch her before she falls, but then Sachiko accidentally drops Kiyoko. Hana jumps off the building after Kiyoko, catches the baby, and lands safely due to a miraculous gust of wind.
Hana, Miyuki, and Gin are taken to the hospital. Miyuki hands Gin his cigarettes and drops the old man's small red bag on the floor, revealing a winning lottery ticket. Kiyoko's real parents want to ask the trio to become her godparents. When a police inspector introduces them to the trio, the inspector is revealed to be Miyuki's father."