When French indie label Les Films du Paradoxe and
independent production/distribution company CaRTe bLaNChe released the combination
DVD/Blu-Ray L'Animation
Indépendante Japonaise, Volume 1 in 2013, it created a lot of excitement
among alternative animation fans. This
was not only because rare films like Dreams
(2011), pop art legend Keiichi Tanaami’s
final collaboration with the late Nobuhiro
Aihara, were being made available for purchase with English and French subs,
but also because “Volume 1” indicated that there was a possibility of future releases!
Volume 2 was indeed launched at the
Annecy International Animated Film Festival this past spring. It features 8 films by 6 directors. The DVD/Bluray finally makes Keita Kurosaka’s 2010 cult favourite Midori-ko available to a wider
audience. Fans of Kurosaka, the master
of the grotesque in animation, can also delight in his even rarer 2005 short My Face.
The discs also feature recent works by
established animators Atsushi Wada
and Mirai Mizue, as well as experimental
filmmaker Isamu Hirabayashi. Rounding off this impressive list of artists
are two up-and-coming women directors Yoriko
Mizushiri, who has been a real festival favourite since the release of her film Futon (布団) in 2012,
and Yoko Kuno, whose music video Airy Me for Cuushe, has won acclaim including the New Face Award at the Japan
Media Arts Festival last year.
Here is the complete list of films with links
to further information:
Midori-ko
(2010) and My Face (ワタシノカオ, 2005) by Keita Kurosaka
In
a Pig's Eye (2010) by Atsushi Wada
WONDER
(2014) and AND AND (2011) by Mirai
Mizue
Snow
Hut (2013) by Yoriko Mizushiri
NINJA
& SOLDIER (2012) by Isamu Hirabayashi
Airy
Me (2013) by Yoko Kuno
L'Animation Indépendante Japonaise, Volume 2 is packed in a card paper sleeve that contains both a DVD and a Bluray. Both discs have English and French menus as well as subtitles when needed. It can be purchased via Amazon France,
Cathy Munroe Hotes 2014