International dance sensation and former lead back-up for Madonna, actress Bambi Naka, makes her latest screen outing in a role that will surely set the dance floor ablaze next month at Fantasia Festival in Dreams On Fire, from director Philippe McKie. The film has since released in Japan and is currently set to screen on August 8 at Cinéma du Musée as part of the festival.
After running away from home to become a dancer in Tokyo, Yume (Bambi Naka) struggles against the harsh realities of what it takes to achieve success. She works as a hostess in the red-light district while taking dance lessons, and refuses to abandon her ambitions.
DREAMS ON FIRE features the first leading role from celebrated Japanese dance idol, Bambi Naka, former lead dancer on Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour and internationally recognized icon. An electrifying and dazzling feature debut from Canadian-born, Japan-based filmmaker Philippe McKie, DREAMS ON FIRE is a love letter to the dynamic and striking urban dance and underground scene of Tokyo and the artists that occupy it.
Philippe, who also wrote, art-directed, and edited the film, has been living in Japan for the past ten years and worked in the fashion industry, DJed in Tokyo clubs, and continued to make films.
The cast is filled with exciting break-out and accomplished talents from Japan across a range of disciplines, many of which in their feature film debuts, including model, YouTube make-up influencer, and Harajuku Fashion icon Haruka Kurebayashi; popular idol group Akishibu Project member Rinomaru; adult-film star Okuda Saki; legendary underground Tokyo model Hirari Ikeda; celebrated fetish and circus performer YUSURA; and Mika, Mirin, and Yuriya of the internationally recognized, widely acclaimed go-go dance crew CyberJapan, alongside Akaji Maro, the most distinguished living Butoh performer, who can also be seen in KILL BILL 1 & 2, and Masahiro Takashima, A-list actor in Japan and featured in the smash hit KINGDOM.
With an intimate knowledge of the pulse of emerging creatives in Tokyo, Philippe’s film brings viewers into a world never explored in cinema, being the first feature to shoot at legendary S&M bar Black Rose and the first to show a Japanese voguing event in a narrative film.
Additional dancers and globally recognized choreographers that make their on-screen debuts in DREAMS ON FIRE include Yumeri Chikada, Kazane, Genta Yamaguchi, MIWA, AVECOO, Maiko Masai, Suzuyaka, and more.
Featuring the music of IC3PEAK, S.P.Y, Hospital Records, Shogun Audio, and more, plus scenes from top Drum&Bass artist DJ AKI’s show at Shibuya’s illustrious nightclub WOMB. DREAMS ON FIRE will celebrate its North American Premiere on August 8th at the Cinéma du Musée as part of the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. The film is theatrical released in Japan and on the festival circuit in the rest of the world.