'Miss Hokusai,' 'Transpeco' come to the Ross Oct. 21

Scene from "Miss Hokusai," which plays Oct. 21-27 at the Ross.

The animated film “Miss Hokusai” and tense thriller “Transpeco” open Oct. 21 at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Mary Ripema Ross Media Arts Center.

From award-winning director Keiichi Hara and Japanese power house Production I.G, “Miss Hokusai” is the remarkable story of the daughter behind one of history’s most famous artists.

As all of Edo flocks to see the work of the famous painter Hokusai, his daughter O-Ei toils diligently inside his studio. Her masterful portraits, sold under the name of her father, are coveted by upper crust lords and journeyman printmakers alike. In public, O-Ei knows and respects “her place,” but at home in the studio, she’s as brash and uninhibited as her father.

Despite her talent and fiercely independent spirit, O-Ei struggles under the domineering influence of her father and is ridiculed for lacking the life experience that she is attempting to portray in her art. Her relationship with her father and blind younger sister provide an emotional story about a powerful young girl.

“Transpecos,” starring Gabriel Luna, Johnny Simmons and Clifton Collins Jr., is a story of three border patrolmen facing a deadly encounter with a Mexican drug cartel on a desert highway. Their normal daily routine takes a turn when the content of one car changes everything. The decision between right and wrong could cost their lives.

Both “Transpecos” and “Miss Hokusai” play at the Ross through Oct. 27. For more information, including show times, click here or call 402-472-5353.