A ‘festival within a festival’. Three diverse back-to-back programmes looking at the next generation of indie animators from a variety of angles. Here’s the first of the three programmes, showing the best international student films drawn from more than 60 different schools in 25 countries.
The arrival of LIAF 2012’s special guest – legendary Japanese animator Koji Yamamura (‘Mt Head’, ‘Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor’, ‘Muybridge’s Strings’ to name but a few) dramatically and quickly re-energised the Tokyo University of the Arts animation course into a creative powerhouse of the Japanese animation scene and the world is beginning to sit up and take notice of its graduates. This collection looks at some of their more recent graduate works and shows what a unique torrent of animation has been untapped there.
This programme takes place at The Horse Hospital Your ticket also gives you entry to Best of the Next Programme 2 & Best of the Next Programme 3
‘Al Dente Tango’ (Maho Yoshida, 2011)
Welcome. Do you have a booking? Yes? Good. Here is your table. Welcome to the Restaurant Of The Macabre.
Japan, 4’08
‘Fleeting Dream / Tamayura No Yume’ (Mayuko Yamakita, 2011)
A poignant departure from the charcoal splendour of the real world to a more colourful, but less predictable, world beneath the surface.
Japan, 4’01
‘Spots Spots’ (Yuanyuan Hu, 2011)
Spots may be in the eye of the beholder but that beholder needs a pretty vivid imagination to see them all.
Japan, 4’15
‘From The Dolphin / Iruka Kara’ (Tatsuhiro Ariyoshi, 2011)
A dolphin’s-eye view of a hypnotic journey to a surprisingly unexpected end vision.
Japan, 2’09
‘Bonnie’ (Masanori Okamoto, 2011)
Life can be a frenetic journey for a fragile little cut-out trying to make its way through the crazy rigours of the urban jungle.
Japan, 2’27
‘Specimens Of Obsessions / Hyouhon No Tou’ (Atsushi Makino, 2011)
The centipede of punishment, an ephemera of obsessions, the leech of closure, a snail of escape, and of course the cockroach of usual life.
Japan, 12’08
‘Ygg’s Bird / Ygg No Tori’ (Mariko Saito, 2011)
From fire, smoke and scorched earth, a bird arrives to find that life has changed forever.
Japan, 5’27
‘The Tender March / Yasashii March’ (Wataru Uekusa, 2011)
A visual roller-coaster ride right out of a Japanese, pop culture-infused graphic novel – but with lots more screens.
Japan, 4’48
‘The Life Of The Weed / Kusa No Isshou’ (Sonomi Takada, 2011)
A pastiche of ‘floranetic’ hyperactivity that traces the path of one big weed on the move.
Japan, 2’53
‘Jam Fish’ (Senri Iida, 2011)
A bold and colourful visual essay on what fish can teach us about dealing with the peak-hour traffic.
Japan, 3’34
‘Fully Cooked For You / Onishime Otabe’ (Yuka Imabayashi, 2011)
Behind every peeled owl is … another peeled owl. Underneath every puffed mushroom is a stem waiting to escape.
Japan, 3’44
‘Island Of Man / Hito No Shima’ (Alimo, Japan)
A quiet carpet of Zen imagery and narrative. On an island that could be anywhere, a pair of boots lay cast away.
6’32, 2011
‘Rootless Heart / Samayou Shinzou’ (Toshiko Hata, Japan)
Uncertainty equals danger. And uncertain danger requires a response. But an uncertain response comes with uncertain consequences.
9’52, 2011
‘Uncapturable Ideas / Idea Ga Tsukamaranai’ (Masaki Okudam, Japan)
Somebody has gone fishing for ideas and they’ve thrown the net real wide. Step forward and help pull this rich bounty into the boat.
10’52, 2011
