Nishikata Film Review

22 May 2019

NC2019: Tokyo University of the Arts Animation

Nippon Connection
Tokyo University of the Arts: Animation Shorts
Thursday, May 30, 12:00
Naxoshalle Kino → Learn More

Once again, Nippon Connection will be screening a selection of recent films by students of the Graduate Programme in Animation at Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai). Since opening the department in 2008, Geidai has produced top quality animated shorts and launched or boosted the careers of many artists. These year’s selection will be presented by Ilan Nguyen who is an adjunct instructor to the Department of Animation at Tokyo University of the Arts. Nguyen is well known in the international animation community, particularly in his native France and his adopted home of Japan, as an animation expert and historian. He also works as an interpreter for many prominent Japanese animation figures when they visit France and as a cultural programme coordinator for festivals and exhibitions. On Friday, June 31st at 13:30 in Mousonturm Studio 1, Nguyen will also be giving a memorial talk Remembering Isao Takahata: A Personal View on Post-War Japan’s Most Influential Animation Director.

The Body in the Mind
あたまのからだ
Atama no Karada
by Yumeno HOSHI / 星夢乃
2019, 6’08”

Pickle Plum Parade
うめぼしパトロール
Umeboshi Patorōru
by Eri SASAKI / ささきえり
2019, 3’50”

Keep Forgetting
何度でも忘れよう
Nando demo Wasureyō
by Takahiro SHIBATA / しばたたかひろ
2019, 10’27”

Boozy Woozy Wonderland
ワンダフル千鳥足inワンダーランド
Wandafuru Chidoriashi in Wandārando
by Shiika OKADA / 岡田詩歌
2019, 2’25”

Nocturnal Roadwork
夜の道路工事
Yoru no Dōrokōji
Misuzu HASHIJI / 端地美鈴
2019, 4’46”

Indoor Days
外に出ない日
Hokani Denai Hi
by Asaki NISHINO / 西野朝来
2019, 3’07”

Dissipate
舞空
Maisora
by Kohei SAITO / 齊藤光平
2019, 8’52”

The Death Vendor
死の商人
Shinoshōnin
by Jinkyu JEON / 全振圭
2019, 5’40”

Hear the Snow Melt
雪解けをきいて
Yukidoke wo Kiite
by Leina MURAMATSU / 村松怜那
2019, 4’13”

Text Complex
ひなんてなくなってしまえ
Hi Nante Nakunatte Shimae
by Haruka HIRAMATSU / 平松悠
2019, 6’48”

Stay with Me
湿らない腐らないおいしくまろやか
Shimaranai Kusaranai Oishiku Maruyaka
by Yuki MAEHATA / 前畑侑紀
2019, 4’40”

Bath House of Whales
くじらの湯
Kujira no Yu
by Mizuki KIYAMA / キヤマミズキ
2019, 6’34”

2019 Cathy Munroe Hotes

NC2019 – Ilan Nguyen Lecture – “Remembering Isao Takahata”

Remembering Isao Takahata
A Personal View On Post-War Japan’s Most Influential Animation Director
A lecture by Ilan Nguyen
Friday, May 31, 13:30
Mousonturm Studio 1
Nippon Connection
Duration: approx. 1,5 hours
Lecture in English

I am delighted that our guest at Nippon Connection this year is Ilan Nguyen, a well-known animation expert whom I have had the pleasure to meet at festivals in his native France and in Japan. He is an adjunct instructor to the Department of Animation at Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai) and will also be presenting this year’s selection of films from Geidai students on Thursday, May 30th at noon in the Naxoshalle.

In addition to his work as an animation critic and historian Nguyen works as a cultural programme coordinator for festivals and exhibitions. He is a familiar face in the animation community in France, where he often acts as an interpreter for many prominent Japanese animation figures. In particular, he had a very close relationship with Isao Takahata (1935-2018), and accompanied him to France many times.

I have heard Nguyen give lectures on animation in French at RICA – the Wissembourg Ciné Club’s biannual animation festival (1995-2016) and can attest to what an interesting and delightful speaker he is. He is a fountain of knowledge about the career of Takahata and about the animation community in Japan past and present – this is a highly recommended event for all fans of anime.

2019 Cathy Munroe Hotes

17 May 2019

Transience – The Best of Recent Indie Animation

Transience – The Best of Recent Indie Animation
Nippon Connection
Saturday, June 1, 2019
14:15 in the Naxoshalle Kino
learn more

My animated shorts selection will be on Saturday at Nippon Connection this year instead of Sunday. This year’s selection features a couple of non-Japanese names. The Czech animator Vojtěch Domlátil, who works at the Jiří Barta studio in Pilsen, had a 2-month art residency at Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo in 2017. His work Fleeting Autumn, which he describes as “a collection of audio-visual haiku poems” was made during this residency. The Oscar-nominated stop motion animation Negative Space is co-directed by the Japanese-American animation team Ru Kuwahata and her husband Max Porter. Both of them studied animation in the Netherlands and the U.S. and the film is funded by a French studio.

The rest of the programme features a diverse range of animation styles from innovative Japanese artists. Some are already established in their careers, and others are just starting out. Every year brings astonishing new works from Japanese artists and it is my pleasure to be able to share some of them with you all again this year.

29 May 2019 Update: animator Ryōji Yamada, who is currently living in Germany, has informed us that he will be able to attend the screening.