This week's new film events

Anime , London While hand-drawn, two-dimensional animation is now seen as slightly archaic in the west, it's still the foundation of Japanese animation, where it looks anything but – usually because it's used to render fantastic and futuristic tales that make ours look timid. Added to which, they're invariably gorgeous to look at. There are strange lands, mystical creatures and flamboyantly long titles to explore in this biennial weekend round-up, such as Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below by Makoto Shinkai, or the latest spin-off from the hugely successful series, Full Metal Alchemist 2: Sacred Star Of Milos (followed by a Q&A with the director). A Letter To Momo captures the spirit of classic Studio Ghibli productions such as My Friend Totoro, while Ghibli's own From Up On Poppy Hill is a fantasy-free coming-of-age story set in 1964 Yokohama, and Oblivion Island shows what they can do with computer animation. The film that defined the genre, Akira, closes the season. BFI Southbank, SE1, Fri to 10 Jun Screenfields , Chestival Outdoor Cinema , Manchester & Chester It's that time of year when the prospect of outdoor British cinema shifts from "completely absurd" to "theoretically quite nice, weather permitting, but you never can tell". And in the north-west, two very different venues are offering fresh-air viewing. One is Manchester's Spinningfields, where there's a movie every Thursday till August. This week's is How To Marry A Millionaire – a dangerous film to put before shoppers, but later you also get The Motorcycle Diaries, Big and Chicago. In Chester, the venue is the Roman amphitheatre, which has at least two screenings a day for the next fortnight, from Senna to to Kung Fu Panda. Plus, of course, Gladiator. Spinningfields, to 26 Jul; Chester Amphitheatre, Wed to 21 Jun Labyrinth Masquerade Ball , London Clearly there are a great many people out there for whom fantasy cinema, fashion, puppetry and the ability to take David Bowie seriously all reached their peak with the film Labyrinth (pictured) in 1986 – and this is their moment. Actually, it's their second moment: this event is back by popular demand. So dust down your mask, crystal ball-juggling skills and new-romantic fancy dress outfit, enjoy a "David Bowie" cocktail and an introduction by "David Bowie" (the inverted commas are kind of important here), and follow Jennifer Connelly into an immersive world of vintage Jim Henson/George Lucas silliness. Prince Charles Cinema, WC2, Sun Let The Games Begin , Edinburgh In case you hadn't heard, there's a big sports competition happening in London this year, but this season is more than festive flag-waving. For one, it rounds up films about the primary Olympic sport, usually ignored by commercial sports movies – running. Chariots Of Fire is here, of course, plus Robert Towne's two neglected track-related movies, Personal Best and Without Limits, and the Ethiopians are represented by The Athlete, a biopic of 1960s hero Abebe Bikila, and recent doc Town Of Runners. Best of all are two documentaries on the games' darker political history: Kevin Macdonald's Oscar-winning One Day In September (on the Munich 1972 hostage saga), and Salute, on the famous "black power" podium moment at Mexico 1968. Filmhouse, to 26 Jul