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Live-Action Nana, Funky Forest to Run in L.A., N.Y.C.
posted on by Egan Loo
Viz Pictures, the live-action film company linked to manga publisher Viz Media, has announced the North American theatrical screenings for both the live-action NANA film and the Funky Forest anthology. Both films premiered in Japan in 2005. The ImaginAsian Center in Los Angeles will screen NANA, the first of two film adaptations of Ai Yazawa's NANA manga about two polar-opposite roommates, during March 21–27. The ImaginAsian Theatre in New York City will screen the movie during April 4–10. The movie's New York screenings will coincide with the April 8 DVD release. The movie had aired along with its 2006 sequel with Chinese subtitles on Canada's Omni TV Ontario in October, and it also ran during December's New York Anime Festival.
Viz Pictures had previously announced that Funky Forest: The First Contact, the live-action comedy anthology from director Katsuhito Ishii (Kill Bill's anime sequence, The Taste of Tea) and co-creators Aniki (Hajime Ishimine) and Shunichiro Miki (Hal & Bons), will screen during March 7–13 at New York City's Imaginasian Theater. The movie will then move to the Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle, Washington during March 21–27, and finally to The Imaginasian Center in Los Angeles during April 18–24. The film had previously screened at the 2006 Montreal Fantasia Film Festival, the 2006 San Francisco Independent Film Festival and the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival. Viz Media will ship the movie's DVD on March 18.
