FILM SCREENINGS

All About Lily Chou Chou

2001. Japan. Written and directed by Shunji Iwai. With Hayato Ichihara, Shugo Oshinari, Ayumi Ito. Beginning as an interactive novel Iwai wrote and posted on the Internet, All About Lily Chou Chou perfectly captures the absurdities of growing up in Japan’s pervasive pop/cyber culture, in which Internet chat rooms, pop-idol worship, and harrowing school bullying are just part of a teenager’s daily life. Iwai’s poetic, gorgeously shot coming-of-age tale provides a disturbing look at the violence, terror, and isolation that characterize growing up in Japan today. Courtesy Fortissimo Films. In Japanese; English subtitles. 146 min.