26/04/2012:

BFI London's June anime weekend line-up announced

As has become a biennial tradition, this June will see the BFI in London hold an anime weekend, and today has seen the lid lifted on the event's full line-up.

The event will run from Friday June 8th to Sunday June 10th at the BFI Southbank in London - here's the complete line-up for your delectation and consideration:

From Up On Poppy Hill - the latest movie from Studio Ghibli has already enjoyed one London screening, but Goro Miyazaki's new effort will also kick off this anime weekend at 6PM on June 8th.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: The Sacred Star of Milos - next up is a UK premiere, as the Elric brother's theatrical side-story to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood comes to London in advance of its DVD and Blu-Ray release from Manga Entertainment.  Even more excitingly, this screening will also be presented alongside a question and answer session with the film's director, Kazuya Murata, and producer, Masahiko Minami, from Studio BONES.  This screening kicks off at 8PM on June 8th.

Oblivion Island - after enjoying success as the mystery film at last year's Scotland Loves Anime (see our review here), Production I.G.'s CG creation Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror kicks off Saturday's line-up from 4PM on June 9th.

Children Who Chase Lost Voices - this is then followed by Makoto Shinkai's latest film, which has enjoyed a number of screenings but gets another outing here prior to its UK DVD and Blu-Ray release later in the year.  The screening starts at 6:30PM on June 9th - our thoughts on the film can be found here.

Gintama: The Movie - the second day of the weekend closes out with a screening of Gintama's theatrical film, following a prior screening at the Leeds International Film Festival.  The movie begins at 9PM on June 9th.

A Letter to Momo - the final day of the event kicks off with the wonderful A Letter To Momo, Production I.G.'s charming, award-winning film that simply shouldn't be missed.  The screening begins at 4PM on June 10th - see our thoughts on the film right here.

The Princess and the Pilot - having missed out on a screening last year at Scotland Loves Anime, The Princess and the Pilot finally gets a UK premiere here in a screening which begins at 6:30PM on June 10th.

Akira - last but certainly not least, how else could you expect to close such a weekend than with a screening of the seminal Akira?  The movies begins at 8:45PM on June 10th.

More details and online booking for the BFI's priority members can be found on the BFI web site - tickets will be available to the general public for all of these screenings from May 8th.

Are you excited at the prospect of any of these screenings? Let us know your thoughts below!