“We’re now reaching the time where people who are, you know, reaching their prominence in film, in the film industry, are people who grew up watching anime.”

Canada's own Isaiah Lehtinen (I Like Movies) visits TIFF to share his knowledge and deep love for anime and discusses the new generation of artists changing the way these films are viewed.

POP Japan is a series celebrating the convergence of the cult, pulp, and popular in Japanese film and art, running at TIFF Bell Lightbox until June 27. POP Japan includes three film series: Seijun Suzuki (Kagero-za, A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness, Tokyo Drifter), marking the iconoclast director’s centenary with six 35mm prints; World of Anime (Ghost in the Shell, Paprika, A Silent Voice: The Movie), a survey of Japan’s most influential anime, co-curated by Yuki Ohsawa; and Miyazaki Spotlight (My Neighbor Totoro, Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, Spirited Away, The Wind Rises), a four-film ode to the “godfather of animation” and co-founder of Studio Ghibli.