NYU’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute will hold a screening tonight of the anime film Tekkon Kinkreet at Cantor Film Center, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Based on a manga of the same name, Tekkon Kinkreet follows two young street urchins as they try to maintain control of the surreal streets of Treasure Town while disregarding the laws of physics and child welfare in the process.

The film is the first of its kind in that it is an anime made in Japan, but directed by an American, Michael Arias. The screening at Cantor will include a discussion with a panel headed by the film’s screenwriter, Anthony Weintraub, regarding “Anime and the Architecture of Cosmopolitanism.”

Some say the film expands the boundaries of imagination in a way that is both breathtaking and poignant. Others say that it’s just a chance for some animators to show off at the expense of any real substance. Either way, it’s a lot of fun and very cool to look at. Also it’s kind of violent, if you’re into that. And it won Artforum’s best film of 2006… if you’re into that.

Details here.