Animation at
Nippon Connection 2016
Frankfurt am
Main, May 24-29
It’s a
strong year for animation at Nippon Connection 2016. The festival features two adaptations of
works by the late science fiction writer Project
Itoh (伊藤 計劃): The Empire of Corpses (2015) by Wit
Studio and Harmony (2015) by Studio 4⁰C. The co-director of Harmony, Michael Arias (Tekkon Kinkreet, Heaven’s Door) will be present at the German premiere on the 29th.
One of the
festival highlights is Keiichi Hara’s
award-winning latest feature film Miss
Hokusai (2015). Adapted from Hinako Sugiura’s historical manga of
the same name, it tells the story of the renowned artist Hokusai’s third
daughter O-Ei, who was such a talented artist talented she would sometimes
paint in lieu of her father. Hara first
made a name for himself working on major anime franchises like Doraemon, Obake no Q Taro and Crayon
Shin-chan. Since going independent,
he has made the acclaimed features Summer
Days with Coo (2007) and Colorful
(2010). Miss Hokusai has won many accolades including the Jury Award at
Annecy, four top awards at Fantasia 2015, and Best Animation Film at the 70th
Mainichi Film Awards.
Shunji Iwai is better known for his
live action films like Love Letter
(1995) and Swallowtail (1996). His animated feature film The Case of Hana + Alice (2015) is a
prequel to his teen romance Hana and
Alice (2004). The animation was made
using rotoscoping and CG animation. The
anime won Bronze Audience Award for best animated feature film at the 19th
Fantasia International Film Festival.
This year’s Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy
(JVTA) sponsored film is Twilight of the
Cockroaches (Hiroaki Yoshida,
1987). This live action / animation
hybrid has a cult following thanks to an English dub that used to play on
Turner Broadcasting networks in the 1990s.
There is currently no region 1 DVD so this screening will be a rare
treat for animation fans. The feature film
will be preceded by Rushio Moriyama’s
excellent animated short Macky and Euchy
in the Midnight Gallery (2015).
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| Macky and Euchy in the Midnight Gallery |
Tokyo
University of the Arts (Geidai) is returning to Nippon Connection with a strong
programme of works by recent grads. The
films will be presented by Hiromitsu
Murakami. Learn more about the programme
here.
Cathy Munroe Hotes of Nishikata Film Review has curated
another programme of independently produced animated shorts called A
Wild Patience – Indie Animated Shorts by Women. Stop motion animator Maya Yonesho has recently announced that she will be present at the
screening to answer audience questions.
The Studio
Ghibli production When Marnie Was There
(Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2014) is
screening as part of the Nippon Kids section on Thursday afternoon at the Mal Seh’n
Kino. This is the only animation
screening with the German dub. All
others are in Japanese with English subtitles.
The Case of
Hana + Alice
花とアリス殺人事件/ Hana to
Alice satsujin jiken
Shunji IWAI,
2015, 100 min.
German
premiere, Japanese with English Subtitles
Thursday,
May 26, 12:00 Mousonturm Saal
Friday, May
27, 22:30 Mal Seh'n Kino
The Empire
of Corpses
屍者の帝国 / Shisha no
teikoku
Ryotaro
MAKIHARA, 2015, 120 min.
German
premiere, Japanese with English Subtitles
Friday, May
27, 12:00 Mousonturm Saal
Saturday,
May 28, 22:45 Mal Seh'n Kino
Erinnerungen an Marnie (When Marnie Was
There)
思い出のマーニー / Omoide no Mani
Hiromasa
YONEBAYASHI, 2014, 99 min.
German dub
Thursday, May 26, 15:30 Mal Seh'n Kino
HARMONY
ハーモニー
Takashi
NAKAMURA and Michael Arias, 2015, 120 min.
Japanese
with English subtitles
German
premiere on May 29, in the presence of the director Michael Arias
Wednesday,
May 25, 17:30 Mal Seh'n Kino
Sunday, May
29, 14:15 Mousonturm Saal
JVTA
Presents: Twilight of the Cockroaches
ゴキブリたちの黄昏 / Gokiburitachi
no tasogare
Hiroaki
YOSHIDA, 1987, 105 min.
Japanese
with English subtitles
Saturday,
May 28, 22:30 Naxoshalle Kino
Miss Hokusai
百日紅〜Miss HOKUSAI〜 / Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai
Director:
Keiichi HARA
Japan 2015,
DCP, 90 min, Japanese with English subtitles, released to age 12 or older
Friday, May
27, 19:30 Mousonturm Saal
Saturday,
May 28, 14:00 Mal Seh'n Kino
Tokyo University
of the Arts: Animation
In presence
of Hiromitsu MURAKAMI
Thursday,
May 26, 14:45 Naxoshalle Kino
A Wild
Patience – Indie Animated Shorts by Women
In the
presence of the curator Dr. Catherine Munroe Hotes and the director Maya
YONESHO
Sunday, May
29, 17:15 Naxoshalle Kino
