LIAF 2021: BFI Japan 2021 – Junk Head (Takahide Hori, Japan)

At the Barbican book tickets

 
Find out about our other BFI Japan 2021 programmes: Into the Unknown – The Trippy Worlds of Indie Japanese Animation and Atsushi Wada – A Jolt to The Subconscious

Junk Head is an expansive stop-motion sci-fi action thriller, meticulously styled and set in a dark and perilous universe that harbours surprises around every corner. Over seven years in the making, Junk Head is the work of one obsessively dedicated man, Takahide Hori, who has singularly created the sets, puppets, sound, music and special effects and then animated everything to bring this masterpiece to the big screen.

Takahide Hori started this project in 2009 without any formal training. It took him four years and an endless amount of YouTube tutorials to create a thirty-minute short. After garnering the vocal support of some big industry names such as Guillermo del Toro, and some additional funding and an incredible work ethic he managed to get to the current version that has become a word-of-mouth hit. Since the beginning of the year it has played to sold-out screenings at cinemas across Japan for many weeks and has since been picked up for several film and animation festivals worldwide, grabbing multiple awards along the way.

The plot is set in a distant future. Mankind has lost its ability to procreate, a human-created species has revolted and developed a separate society underground. When a virus wreaks havoc on the surface, an expedition is launched to study how this newly developed species procreate, in an ultimate but desperate attempt to save humankind. The human delegate immediately finds himself in a pickle and as he travels deeper and deeper underground, his chances to complete his mission diminish with every step taken. Instead, his journey becomes an ultimate struggle for survival.

LIAF is extremely excited to bring Junk Head to the Barbican in London. This will be your only chance to see this gem of a film in London this year!