At Nippon Connection 2013, a selection
of works by graduate students from the Tokyo University of the
Arts (aka Geidai) animation programme was presented by NHK producer and current
director of the Geidai Graduate School of Film and New Media, Professor Mitsuko
Okamoto.
Although
Geidai itself is one of the oldest art schools in Japan, starting off as the
Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1887, the Graduate School of Film and New Media was
established in Yokohama in 2005 with its Department of Animation forming in 2008. Although the animation programme is only 5
years old, they have quickly established themselves as one of the top places in
Japan to study animation as students there are given the opportunity to learn
from some of the best in the business including world renowned animator Koji
Yamamura (Franz
Kafka’s A Country Doctor, Muybridge’s
Strings) and i.Toon stop motion
animator Yuichi
Ito (Knyacki!, Winter Days). Geidai’s students have already found acclaim
at animation festivals around the world including Atsushi Wada (In a Pig’s
Eye, The
Great Rabbit), Saori Shiroki
(MAGGOT,
Woman
Who Stole Fingers), and Ryo
Okawara (Orchestra, A Wind Egg).
The Geidai graduate
programme only accepts 16 students a year into its 2-year programme. They have the lofty aim of developing a “new
era of Japanese animation” and pride themselves on their dedication to new
expression and experimental spirit. They
actively look for students who have originality, are highly motivated, and demonstrate strong themes in their work. As it is a
graduate programme, the students usually come with some animation experience
under their belt. In addition to honing
their skills as animators, Prof. Okamoto uses her experience as a producer to
teach the students about the business of filmmaking: how to present a plan, how
to make a budget, how to create a workable schedule, how to promote one’s film,
and so on.
The
programme shown at Nippon Connection 2013 demonstrated Geidai’s wide range of
styles from hand drawn to computer animation, from the sweet to the
surreal. In the coming weeks I hope to
review some of my favourites for you including Aya Tsugehata’s stop motion
animation Imamura Store and Ryo
Okawara’s A Wind Egg which won the
Lotte Reiniger Promotion Award at Stuttgart in June.
The
programme that screened at NC2013:
Fully Cooked For You (Onishime otabe, Yuka IMABAYASHI, 2011, 3’44”)
Promise (Yakusoku, Aki KONO, 2011, 8‘27“)
A Wind Egg (Kara no tamago, Ryo OKAWARA, 2012, 10’30”)
The Tender March (Yasashii March, Wataru UEKUSA, 2011, 4’48”)
Imamura Store (Imamura shoten, Aya TSUGEHATA, 2011, 5’16”) read review
Specimens of Obsessions (Hyohon no to, Atsushi MAKINO, 2011, 12’08”)
Flower and Steam (Hana to yome, Eri KAWAGUCHI, 2012, 4’06”)
Maze King (Hakhyun KIM, 2013, 7’01”)
Recruit Rhapsody (Shukatsu kyosokyoku, Maho YOSHIDA, 2012, 7’27”)
Hide-and-Seek (Kakurenbo, Keiko SHIRAISHI, 2012, 7’51”)
Sunset Flower Blooming (Yugesho, Yuanyuan HU, 2012, 10’19”)
It's Time for Supper (Yoru gohan no jikoku, Saki MURAMOTO, 2013,
8’28”)
Some of
these shorts and many more can be found on the Geidai University DVD
collections for 2011,
2012,
and 2013.
#nippon13 #nc2013
Catherine Munroe Hotes 2013
