About the event
LOVE SUPREME: Dialogue with Xi Jinping — Toronto World Premiere
Written and directed by Hideto Sonoda • 2026 • Drama, Animation • 134 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer
[Introduction]
Xi Jinping: China’s President and de facto Emperor for life. How did he rise to such absolute power? What turned him into the ruthless dictator of our time? This story depicts a battle for Truth—a confrontation between a single filmmaker and the world’s most feared emperor.
[Story]
Arakami, an animation director who was unjustly detained and imprisoned, is suddenly granted bail. His release comes with a catch: he must now create a film praising China’s Xi Jinping.
Arakami retreats to the Japanese countryside to focus on the screenplay. There, in his mental world, he begins a dialogue with the “Emperor,” the spiritual embodiment of Xi.
As Arakami listens to the Emperor recount Xi’s life story and the history of the Chinese Communist Party, he starts to reflect on his own life. He then realizes that what truly ruined his life was the “fear” that had unconsciously taken root within him, and that this very fear is the Emperor’s most potent weapon.
The dialogue between the animation director, who has lost everything, and the “Devil” who proclaims himself the World Emperor, escalates into a fierce ideological debate, questioning the existence of God and the fundamental meaning of human existence.