MAQUIA: WHEN THE PROMISED FLOWER BLOOMS and LIZ AND THE BLUE BIRD to screen at 14th Annual LA Femme International Film Festival

LOS ANGELES - Oct. 8, 2018 - PRLog -- La Femme International Film Festival and festival sponsor ELEVEN ARTS Anime Studio will hold a special screening of the award-winning anime feature Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, Friday, October 12^th at 6PM, and a competition screening of Liz and the Blue Bird, Sunday, October 14^th at 12PM.  Both screenings will be at the Regal Theater Stadium 14 at LA Live.  Founded in 2005, the LA Femme International Film Festival is a premier festival that focuses on platforming women filmmakers and works "by women, for everyone."

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms is the directorial debut of renowned screenwriter Mari Okada. The film dives into the dilemmas of motherhood, adolescence, femininity, and leadership. Okada wraps all these poignant themes into a sweeping epic with well-developed characters, emotional gravitas, stunning visuals, and an exhilarating score by composer Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell). The film, hot off its initial February release, quickly made its way across the globe to premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival, where it captivated audiences. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms also won the Best Animated Film Award at Shanghai International Film Festival.

An Official Selection of the festival, Liz and the Blue Bird is a coming-of-age story from Naoko Yamada, the director of A Silent Voice. ELEVEN ARTS Anime Studio has set November 9^th, 2018, as the theatrical release for the film. The film made its premiere at Anime Expo in the US and will screen with the original Japanese dialogue and English subtitles.

"We could not be prouder to have these two incredibly powerful titles screen at the LA Femme. Director Mari Okada and director Naoko Yamada are incredible women whose work continues to shape the anime industry. We are honored to be bringing the films to this festival and to the broader North American audience," says Ko Mori, President and CEO of ELEVEN ARTS Anime Studio.

ELEVEN ARTS Anime Studio is a Los Angeles-based distribution company known for bringing high-quality Japanese anime to North America. ELEVEN ARTS' anime titles include ​Girls Und Panzer Der Film, Yo-Kai Watch: The Movie, Digimon Adventure Tri. Chapter 1: Reunion, the Evangelion franchise​, The Last: Naruto the Movie, Boruto: Naruto the Movie, The Anthem of the Heart, Sailor Moon R: The Movie, Yu-Gi-Oh!:The Dark Side of Dimensions, Sword Art Online: The Movie -Ordinal Scale-, Lupin III:The Castle of Cagliostro, A Silent Voice, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Reflection, Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern, and most recently Maquia: When The  Promised Flower Blooms.

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms screens on Friday, October 12^th at 6PM and Liz and the Blue Bird screens on Sunday, October 14^th at 12PM, at the Regal Theater Stadium 14 at LA  Live, 1000 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles.

Tickets can be purchased at: http://www.lafemme.org/tickets/

For additional information about the films and LA Femme Film Festival please contact:  Deborah Gilels, ddgilels@prodigy.net, Cell: 818-648-9513