On Monday, the Japanese Film Festival, in association with Access Cinema, will welcome admired anime director Makoto Shinkai for a screening of his new film, Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below at Dublin’s Light House Cinema. The premiere will be preceded by a rare screening of Shinkai’s beloved short She and Her Cat. Tara Brady, Asian-film boffin and Ticket contributor, will be on hand to handle a Q&A session.

Born in 1973, Shinkai studied graphic design before beginning his film career with the seductive, monochrome She and Her Cat. Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days drew comparisons with Hayao Miyazaki, but Shinkai has a sensibility all his own. The new film concerns scary interactions between a girl and various fantastic beings.

See lighthousecinema.ie or accesscinema.ie.