Geidai
Animation: 1st Animation Works 2010
東京藝術大学大学院映像研究科アニメーション専攻
第一期生修了作品集2010
The Graduate
School of Film and New Media at Tokyo University of the Arts (aka Geidai) began
its 2-Year Animation MA Programme in 2008.
Their first graduating class of eleven students was in 2010 and in this
year they inaugurated what has now become a tradition of holding a screening
event at the end of the school year (March) and releasing a DVD showcasing
their student works. The students share the copyright of their films with the university. In return, the university promotes their student works at festivals around the world.
The class of
2010 was taught by Professors Yuichi Ito
(Model Animation), Mitsuko Okamoto
(Production), Takehito Deguchi (Screenwriting),
and Koji Yamamura (2D animation). Assistant Professors were animators Hiromitsu Murakami, Sayaka Omodaka and Arisa Wakami and lecturers Ilan
Nguyen, Yuichi Kishino, and Eiji Otsuka.
With this
first graduating class, Geidai set the bar high for itself accepting only the
cream of the crop of applicants to their programme. Following in the footsteps of their mentors,
many of the graduating animators of 2010 have gone on to win top prizes at both
domestic and international festivals. The
biggest success story so far has been Atsushi
Wada whose graduate film In a Pig's
Eye (2010) was nominated at Zagreb, Annecy, Hiroshima, and Ottawa, and won
the Best Film at Fantoche, and the Grand Prix at the London International
Animation Film Festival. He then went
on to win
the prestigious Silver Bear at the Berlinale with The Great Rabbit (2012).
Other top animators to win the Silver Bear include Norman McLaren and Evelyn
Lambart in 1956 for Rhythmetic, Paul Driessen in 1981 for On Land, at Sea and in the Air, and Ishu Patel in 1985 for Paradise.
The female animators of this inaugural graduating year are also outstanding. In the tradition of Caroline Leaf and Aleksandr Petrov, Saori Shiroki has been making a name for herself with her monochrome paint-on-glass animation. Aico Kitamura's Getting Dressed is an excellent film and I am impatient to see more work from this budding artist.
The cover art for the DVD is illustrated by Yoshiko Misumi and Aico Kitamura. The opening trailer is directed by Hiromitsu Murakami. The DVD comes with a booklet of film descriptions and animator bios. The DVD itself includes the 11 graduating works in Japanese and English. Unless otherwise noted, the film descriptions below are from the booklet. I have included links to the full reviews that I have written for some of the films. The bios have been updated with the most current information I could find. Links to official websites and social media have also been included.
Yotsuya Alpha Beta
四ッ谷いろは / Yotsuya Iroha / 2010年 / 6'32"
“The Yotsuya Alphabet story tells of a girl
caught in a surreal world with the use of Japanese characters. The story is about the girl who lives in the
town called Yotsuya and wanders around the surreal world. Eventually she melts down and becomes a part
of the Yotsuya town. Is the town real or
only her imagination?”
Nana Anzai (安西奈々, b.
1985) is from Hiroshima. She did her BA
at Tama Art University (2008) and graduated from Geidai in 2010. Follow her on Twitter @nananna7 or YouTube.
The Gift of the Magi
賢者の贈り物/ Kenja no
Okurimono / 2010年/ 12'48"
“This is a story about Jim, an apprentice
magician, and Della, his wife, on Christmas Day. Della has her beautiful and long hair cut off
and sells it in order to buy him a present that is a chain made for his gold
watch. In the evening, Jim reaches home,
but is stunned to see her look so different.”
Toshikazu Ishii (石井寿和, b.
1984) is from Chiba. He did his BA at
Waseda University and graduated from Geidai in 2010. Ishii teaches how to make stop motion figures
using armature at Otomeru alongside Keita Funamoto and Masahide Kobayashi. See him
teaching armature on Otomoru’s
website. Learn more about Keita
Funamoto in Stop
Motion Magazine (February 2011, Issue #10).
Gathering
収集家の散歩/ Shūshūka no
Sambo / 2010年 / 6'13"
“A day and a collector’s stroll. He goes out from his apartment for a stroll
in the park. He walks and sees things in
the park unintentionally and these are gathered in his mind one after
another. How do we memorize things in an
ordinary life? Our mind is like a
scrapbook, gathered and stuffed with mess.”
Akiko Omi (大見明子, b.
1977) is from Nara. She has a BA (Hons)
in Theatre, Set Design for Stage and Screen from Wimbledon College of Art (UAL, 2004). After working as a modeller at an animation studio,
Omi pursued her MA at Geidai (2010). She
won the Yōji Kuri Award at the ASK? Film Festival in 2010 and has shown her work
at international festivals and galleries.
Check out her official website for
samples of her work or follow her on Twitter @AkikoOmi.
Getting Dressed
服を着るまで/ Fuku wo kirumade
/ 2010年 / 9'17"
“This woman has detached herself from the
outside world. For her, it is daily work
to feed her bird and to look at the town from her window. Because she doesn’t go out, she does not even
put on clothes. However, this daily life
has ended. She has run out of the
cornflakes that she eats every day. As we get up in the morning and put on
clothes, we are alive in a social system.
Nobody understands whether it is the correct world. However, even if you escape from the system,
the day you have to return will come.”
Aico Kitamura (北村愛子, b.
1985) was born in Kyoto. While a student
at Kyoto Seika University she discovered the world of independent animation and
graduated with a degree in Graphic Arts.
She completed her MA at Geidai in 2010. Check out her official website and follow her on Twitter. @Aico_kitamura.
Woman who stole fingers
指を盗んだ女 / Yubi wo
nusunda onna / 2010年 / 4'15"
“One day, a boy who separated from his
mother’s hand is deprived of his fingers.
His fingers become a larva and part from his hand. The house. .
. conceal[s] a relationship
between the two from anyone. How does
the boy who is deprived of his finger[s] grow up?”
Saori Shiroki (銀木沙織, b.
1984) was born in Saitama. She did her
BA in Oil Painting at Tama Art University (2007) followed by an MA in Animation
at Geidai (2010). She is a member of CALF Studio and has made a name
for herself at international festivals as a paint-on-glass animator. Follow her on vimeo.
Bring Me Up
つままれるコマ / Tsumamareru Koma / 2010年 / 6'40"
“Almost everyone in a contemporary society
is picked up and moved by someone or something like a ‘Sugoroku’. The first one which picks up is ‘Parents’. A hero grows up along a ‘Sugoroku’. This work describes. .
. the process of his growth [as]
he depends on his parents. . . One
day he decides to cut off his relationship with his family.”
Bring Me Up received a special mention
at Animafest Zagreb 2010.
Miki Tanaka (田中美妃, b.
1982) is from Tokyo. She has a BA in
Design from Geidai (2004) in addition to her MA in Animation (2010). Tanaka is a partner of CALF Studio and works as an
independent animator. Check out her official website to see samples of her
recent work.
anti-chaos
強迫的な秩序についてのカエル / Kyōhakuteki
na Chitsujo ni Tsuite no Kaeru /
2010年 / 4'05"
“It’s a story about a frog who is eager to
make his companions stand [in] a line.
He is the only one who wears an armlet, and has a [slightly] different
skin colour from the other frogs. This
work focuses on the relationship between the ‘rulers’ and ‘ruled ones’, and
describes the consequences of some unexpected events.”
Shino Nagasako (永迫志乃, b.1983)
was born in Hiroshima. He has a BA in
Graphic Design from Tama Art University (2007) and an MA in Animation from
Geidai (2010). His graduate film from
Tamabi, The Kitty and the Pony (ネコの人とウマの人,
2007) won an Excellence Prize at the 2nd Annual Charanime-kobo Movie
Contest (2007). Learn more about him on
his official website and
check out his work on vimeo.
CLIMBER
2010年 / 5'49"
“Climbers are try to conquer an endless
stone pillar. Each one of them keeps on
climbing They are the symbols of accumulation.” Source: Anima
Mundi catalogue
Akifumi Nonaka (野中晶史, b.
1985) is from Shizuoka. He has a BA in
Design and Architecture from Nagoya City University and an MA in Animation from
Geidai (2010). He freelances as an
independent animator. Check out his official website and follow him on
twitter @noakitw and Youtube. His most recent indie short is called The Rush Hour Commuters
(通勤ラッシャーズ, 2013).
PapA
2010年 / 3'45"
“When there are light sources and objects,
shadows can sure there. . . There
is an object blocking the light. . . The
shadow is proof [that the object is there].
If the shadow [disappears], you should think that the object ha[s]
disappeared. It is the only reality.”
Kumi Matsui (松井久美, b.
1985) was born in Tokyo. She has a BA in
Animation from Tokyo Polytechnic University (2008) and an MA in Animation from
Geidai (2010). Her film Wild Pear (やまなし, 2009) won the Grand Prize at the Media Contents
Awards (2009). Follow her on twitter @kumimaru.
Googuri Googuri
2010年 / 8'22"
“Story of a girl’s imagination. ‘Googuri Googuri’ is a made up word, a secret
word shared by a girl and her grandfather.
For the granddaughter, her grandfather is at times like a mountain, at
times like a tree, at other times like an ocean, and her thoughts take wing
into her imagination endlessly.”
Yoshiko Misumi (三角芳子, b.
1978) was born in Fukuoka. She has a
degree in Textiles from Geidai in addition to her MA in Animation (2010). Her animated short for the NHK A Tale of a Carefree King
(王さまものがたり,
2007) made the Jury Selection at the Japan Media Arts Festival (2007). Googuri
Googuri competed in international festivals and won the top prize at the ASK?
Film Festival 2010. Check out her official website.
In a Pig's Eye
わからないブタ / Wakaranai
Buta / 2010年 / 10'00"
“[A] surreal snapshot of the life of a
family, and the giant pig blocking their front door.” – MIFF catalogue
Atsushi Wada (和田淳, b. 1980)
is from Hyogo Prefecture. He started off
as a self-taught animator in 2002 and did the Animation Workshop at Image Forum before
doing his MA at Geidai (2010). Wada is
the most successful graduate of the first graduating class winning awards at
many festivals including the top awards at Fantoche and the London
International Animation Festival. The Mechanism of Spring (2010) premiered
at the Venice Film Festival and The Great
Rabbit (2012) won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale. Wada is a founding member of CALF. Check out his official website and follow
him on twitter @Atsushi_Wada. In addition to working as an independent
animator he currently teaches at Otemae University in Hyogo.
