The official Twitter for the forthcoming first Niigata International Animation Festival confirmed today that a seven-minute pilot clip of the unmade live-action film adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo‘s (AKIRA) classic sci-fi manga Domu will be screened in its “Katsuhiro OTOMO‘s Retrospective” section.

Other films to be screened in the section include Harmagedon (1983), Robot Carnival (1987), AKIRA digitally remastered edition (1988), Rouzin-Z (1991), MEMORIES (1995), GUNDAM Mission to the Rise (1998), Metropolis (2001), Steam Boy (2004), and SHOET PEACE (2013).  

Domu was published by Futabasha in 1983, then won the Nihon SF Taisho Award of the year. The manga’s live-action feature film project has not been realized to date, and only a seven-minute pilot clip directed by Otomo himself has remained. It has never been screened outside of sneak previews and this is the first time to be screened in public.

The Niigata International Animation Film Festival will be held annually as an international film festival specializing in feature-length animated films of 40 minutes or more in running time. 25 to 35 films from around the world will be screened during the festival. Internationally acclaimed anime director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in The Shell) will serve as the Chief Judge of its competition program, alongside Shinichiro Inoue, Senior Advisor to KADOKAWA, as the Festival Director.

The first Niigata International Animation Film Festival is scheduled to be held at Niigata Shimin Plaza (Chuo-ku, Niigata City) and other venues from March 17 to 22, 2023. The number of paying visitors is expected to be around 12,000. 

Source: Niigata International Animation Festival official Twitter