Anime NYC 2021: Pompo: The Cinephile . ⋆ Soulcial Dreamin' Ent. ⋆

Over this past weekend at Anime NYC 2021, the east coast premiere of Pompo: The Cinephile hit the main stage. There was a few screening that are exclusive to Anime NYC before its premiere nationwide in the USA. Pompo: The Cinephile started as a manga in 2017 and by 2021 has an anime film adaptation licensed by GKIDS. The film has been delayed multiple times due to the pandemic, plans to make its North America debut in 2022. GKIDS has a habit of doing theater premieres before releasing them on DVD or streaming platforms. I live close to a theater that usually always does the special night anime film debut. Announcements should be coming up soon with what they plan to do for this release.

Pompo has an eye for talent, throughout the movie she displays this eye. Each time the projects she produced did very well when they debuted. Pompo is this adorable kid-looking possible adult character that has developed a love for producing films at a young age. Learning from her grandfather a legendary retired filmmaker and producer J.D. Peterzen. Pompo doesn’t actually love films, she loves to produce them, she claims to never have been moved by a film. This makes me think she’s not the cinephile that the film proclaims. Towards the end of the film, I do believe she starts to love watching films. After becoming invested in them after writing the script for her new drama film Meister.

The film mostly follows Gene who is the real cinephile as he starts his journey to becoming a director. It was a fun journey to get inside Gene’s head and see when he gets excited about the film. Gene was on a mission to bring this script to life so it can be the first film Pompo will emotionally care for.

Pompo sets Gene up with such high expectations with this film. With the industry connections she inherited from her grandfather, she was about to get legendary retired actor Martin Braddock. This would be his first film in 10 years and on top of that. They needed to go around and get sponsors to finance the film. Gene was a part of the entire process so he can learn what needs to be done to make a film in Nyallywood. We run into an old friend of Gene’s that happens to also work for a prestigious Nyallywood bank, that could be help fund this project if it’s approved.

The script for Meister was inspired by Pompo meeting an aspiring actress named Nathalie. Remember when I mentioned Pompo has an eye for seeing the talent in others. Nathalie is a bad actress according to Pompo but there’s something about her that inspired her to write this drama film. I think it was Nathalie’s presence and innocence that made her perfect for the role in Meister.

I think this is a must-see film for anyone who loves films and the art of filmmaking. I love watching films that interest me. Just like in the film Gene sits in theaters and watches movies by himself I love to do that. Go enjoy a film by myself and be able to go through my thoughts, come to many different conclusions and theories. I hope you get the opportunity to see this film for what it is and see it in theaters on a big screen. It deserves to be seen on the big screen at least to grasp the feeling gene tries to convey to Pompo in the film.