Short debuts at SSFF & Asia awards ceremony on June 10
Cafe Group announced last week that it is producing an AI generated 195-210 second “live-action” short film titled “Chimney Town” based on Akihiro Nishino’s Poupelle of Chimney Town (Entotsu-chō no Poupelle) picture book. AI tool brand KamikAI by Ikhor is co-producing the short, which also uses Ikhor’s WonderCanvas AI tool for production. Nishino is credited as the producer. The short will premiere at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2026 awards ceremony on June 10.
AIに何ができて、何ができないのか？(人間に残される仕事は何なのか？)を知りたくて、実は、ずいぶん前からAIで『えんとつ町のプペル』の実写映画を作っていました。… pic.twitter.com/BIQCvXZEs7
— 西野亮廣(キングコング) (@nishinoakihiro) May 27, 2026
Nishino stated that he is thinking of having the short screen at a screening of the CHIMNEY TOWN: Frozen in Time anime film at the Tokyo International Forum on June 28.
CHIMNEY TOWN: Frozen in Time (Entotsu-chō no Poupelle ~Yakusoku no Tokeidai~), the sequel film to Studio 4°C’s 2020 anime film of Akihiro Nishino’s Poupelle of Chimney Town (Entotsu-chō no Poupelle) picture book, opened in Japan on March 27. It sold 88,000 tickets and earned 122,348,500 yen (about US$767,000) in its first three days. The film will screen at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in the festival’s non-competitive “Annecy Presents” section later this month.
As before, Nishino supervised the film’s production, and penned the film’s script, with Yūsuke Hirota returning as director at Studio 4°C.
The film is based on Nishino’s Tick-Tock ~Yakusoku no Tokeidai~ picture book, which shipped in 2019.
Sources: Akihiro Nishino’s X/Twitter account, Anime! Anime! (Kōtarō Nakase)
