Cinderella the Cat

As part of Italian Heritage Month in Vancouver and in celebration of Italian Day on the Drive (Sunday, June 10), the Rio Theatre is programming screenings of select Italian titles in June, including the utterly charming animated feature CINDERELLA THE CAT. Directed by a team including Alessandro Rak (who previously directed THE ART OF HAPPINESS), … Read more

Cinderella the Cat

As part of Italian Heritage Month in Vancouver and in celebration of Italian Day on the Drive (Sunday, June 10), the Rio Theatre is highlighting select Italian titles in June   The cinderella here, Mia, has been mute since the death of her inventor and shipping-magnate father, Vittorio (Mariano Rigillo). He had great plans to … Read more

Tekkonkinkreet (20th Anniversary Remaster)

Black, a boy who seeks to bend the city to his will through strength, and White, his innocent counterpart, are two orphaned street kids living in the slums of Treasure Town. When real estate developers threaten to transform Treasure Town into a massive theme park, its very existence is put at risk. Determined to protect … Read more

Lu Over the Wall

From visionary anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa comes a joyously hallucinogenic but family-friendly take on the classic fairy tale about a little mermaid who comes ashore to join a middle-school rock band and propel them to fame. Kai is talented but adrift, spending his days sulking in a small fishing village after his family moves from … Read more

Lu Over the Wall

The story takes place in a harbor town where a gloomy middle school student named Kai meets a mermaid named Lu.

Mind Game

Buckle in and prepare to surrender yourself to an exhilarating and wildly entertaining ride. Cult classic MIND GAME is an explosion of unconstrained expression – gloriously colorful mages ricochet in rapid fire associations, like Masaaki Yuasa’s brain splattered onto the screen in all its goopy glory. Audiences will begin to grasp what they are in … Read more

Paprika

The Rio Theatre’s ongoing Friday Late Night Movie series continues on September 19 with master anime creator Satoshi Kon‘s 2006 work of psychological science-fiction, PAPRIKA. The storyfollows Dr. Atsuko Chiba, who works as a scientist by day and, under the code name “Paprika,” who moonlights as a so-called “dream detective at night.” Atsuko and her colleagues … Read more

Mary and the Witch’s Flower

From Academy Award-nominee Hiromasa Yonebayashi – animator on Studio Ghibli masterpieces SPIRITED AWAY, HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE, and PONYO, and director of WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE and THE SECRET WORLD OF ARIETTY – comes a dazzling new adventure about a young girl named Mary, who discovers a flower that grants magical powers, but only for one … Read more

The Breadwinner

From Executive Producer Angelina Jolie and the team behind such animated treasures as THE SECRET OF KELLS and SONG OF THE SEA comes one of this year’s Oscar picks (nominee, Best Animated Feature)  THE BREADWINNER, based on Deborah Ellis’ best-selling novel about a headstrong young Afghani girl. Parvana is an 11-year-old girl who lives under … Read more

Birdboy: The Forgotten Children

There is light and beauty, even in the darkest of worlds. Winner of Spain’s Goya Award for Best Animated Feature (where the director separately won Best Animated Short Film in the same year), Alberto Vázquez‘s debut feature is a darkly comic, mind-bending fantasy based on his own graphic novel and award-winning short film. Birdboy: The … Read more