Join us at the Rio Theatre on Sunday, July 24 for an evening dedicated to some great anime, including the Vancouver Premiere of acclaimed artist Robert Valley‘s latest short film Pear Cider and Cigarettes followed by Takeshi Koike‘s Redline.

Robert Valley will be in attendance to both introduce Pear Cider and Cigarettes and for a brief Q&A.

Official Site www.pearciderandcigarettes.com

Sunday, July 24
Doors 8:00
PEAR CIDER AND CIGARETTES – Robert Valley in attendance!
8:30
(Break)
REDLINE
9:15

Tickets $12 in advance HERE | $14 at the door
*Must be 19+ w/ID for entry and bar service.
**Sorry, Groupons and passes are not accepted at this event.

PEAR CIDER AND CIGARETTES: “Rob Valley has built his reputation as a much-wanted hired-gun on other people’s projects, from the Gorillaz music videos to the ‘Tron: Uprising’ series, but his latest short represents a new career phase as a film director. Valley originally self-published Pear Cider and Cigarettes as a multi-volume graphic novel, but the plan was always to end up with an animated film, he told Cartoon Brew. “The film isn’t just an adaptation from the book, but I wanted to take it one step further an actually animate the panels straight from the comic,” Valley said. “This involved some planning up front.”

With twenty years of industry experience, dating back to a breakout stint on the MTV classic Aeon Flux, Valley brings an electrifying visual style to his new film that belies its tiny crew. And by tiny, we’re talking, like, one person. Valley single-handedly produced all of the film’s artwork and animation by himself over the course of the last half-decade.

The main character in Pear Cider and Cigarettes is Valley’s childhood friend, Techno Stypes, a hard-living daredevil whose self-destructive spiral eventually leaves him lying in a Chinese hospital in desperate need of a liver transplant. Valley’s own life intertwines with Stypes’ (not his real name, by the way) in a crazy true story that charges animated autobiography into gritty new territory.” [Cartoon Brew.com]

REDLINE (Takeshi Koike, 2010 / 102 mins) The most dangerous and exciting car race in the universe is held only once every five years. And that’s tonight. The competitors are lined up at the starting block. In his vehicle, JP, the most daredevil driver on the circuit, is ready for the green light. Female driver Sonoshee, with whom he is secretly in love, is also on the starting line. She will stop at nothing to get on to that podium. In this race, not only is anything possible, but also anything is allowed. In fact, their adversaries have modified their vehicles to equip them with highly destructive weapons; with such participants, it is hardly surprising that Redline is forbidden by the authorities, who will try anything to halt the proceedings. These speed addicts have to put themselves in mortal danger to achieve their aim: eternal glory for those who finally mount the podium.