Paul Schrader’s “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” (1985).

MILL VALLEY — The 31st Mill Valley Film Festival, to be held from Oct. 2 to 12, will include two Japan-related programs.

“The Amazing Osamu Tezuka” (74 minutes) will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 12 p.m. at the Sequoia Theatre, 25 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, and Sunday, Oct. 5, at 10:30 a.m. at the Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 4th St. in San Rafael.

Creator of Astro Boy, among other legendary anime characters, the late Osamu Tezuka is hailed as the “god of manga.” This unusual collection showcases the master’s superb, seldom-seen non-anime work. The non-verbal short films creatively employ silence, sound and music.

“Legend of the Forest” (1987, 30 minutes), Tezuka’s masterpiece 10 years in the making, is his homage to animation, from scratched-on film and pencil drawing to full-color multidimensional images. Set to Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, the film also carries an environmental message.

Also included are “Jumping” (1984, 7 minutes), a view of the world through that activity; “Broken Down Film” (1985, 6 minutes), a send-up of American cartoon technique; “Self-Portrait” (1988, 1 minute); and a restored episode of the American TV version of “Astro Boy” (1963, 30 minutes).

Fred Ladd, Astro Boy’s American “godfather,” will speak after the screenings about the iconic character’s history and about a new Astro Boy movie to be released in 2009.
General admission is $10. A processing fee of $3 will be added to on-line orders.

“Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” (120 minutes) will be shown on Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. at the Smith Rafael Film Center.

Released in 1985 with Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas as executive producers, and filmed entirely in Japan (although never shown there to this day), Paul Schrader’s dazzling, controversial film about Yukio Mishima, the legendary novelist and playwright, resembles few American films before or since.

The filmmaker recently enhanced and retouched this masterwork, and MVFF offers the first U.S. screening of his new 35mm print.

Structured around the day in 1970 when Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) famously committed a public act of ritual suicide, the film dramatically weaves diverse strands of biography, memory and the author’s fiction to explore the complexity and contradictions of an artist obsessed with physical extremes and whose public persona was one of his most extraordinary creations.

In collaboration with cinematographer John Bailey and designer Eiko Ishioka, Schrader creates a striking stylized collage-portrait of Mishima, underlined by Philip Glass’ powerful music score. The cast also includes Naoko Otani, Yasosuke Bando and Hisako Manda.

Admission is $12.50 general, $11 for seniors.

The 11-day festival is held every October, screening over 200 innovative U.S. and international films for over 40,000 film lovers. Consistently rated as one of the top film festivals in the nation, it includes premieres of features, documentaries and shorts, as well as tributes, gala events, achievement awards and seminars.

California Film Institute members enjoy special benefits at the festival and beyond.
To order tickets, call (877) 874-MVFF or visit http://mvff.com.