The best of recently released short animated films from Japan – this year’s LIAF country of focus. A programme that opens the window on what’s going on in the young Japanese animation scene.
Special thanks to the Japan Foundation and Carte Blanche
‘Many Go Round’ (Yoshihisa Nakanishi, 2011)
A certified can’t-believe-my-eyes piece of animation made of ingeniously cut paper silhouettes formed into a kind of phenakistoscope.
Japan, 6’00
‘The People Who Never Stop’ (Florian Piento, 2012)
The story of a crowd who never stop, for better or worst.
Japan/France, 3’30
‘And And’ (Mirai Mizuie, 2011)
Stunning, rhythmic, abstracted animated images pour across the screen in this music clip made for Toru Matsumoto (Psysalia Psysalis Psyche)
Japan, 6’50
‘The Great Rabbit’ (Atsushi Wada, 2012)
A young boy worships his beloved rabbit.
Japan, 7’10
‘Pieces of 3.11’ (Kotobuki Shiriagari, 2011)
On 11 March 2011, a tsunami struck Japan and spread fear along the coast, but also in the rest of the country and the whole world. The devastation and anxiety found its way to the media and appeared on television, sharply contrasting with entertainment programmes with canned laughter and applause.
Japan, 2’17
‘Columbos’ (Kawai Okamura, 2012)
A homicide scene with the corpse of an actress dressed in red, a man with a gunshot wound, and an internationally well-known detective. Is this the climax scene from some drama? Or is it a murder that took place during the shooting of a film?
Japan, 9’15
‘Dreams’ (Keiichi Tanaami, 2011)
The final collaboration between legendary pop artist Keiichi Tanaami and the late, great Nobuhiro Aihara. Eye-popping, warped imagery to feed your head until it explodes!
Japan, 6’00
‘The Mechanism of Spring / Haru no Shikumi’ (Atsushi Wada, 2010)
Oh my, how things happen in Spring! Buds are bursting and your body is filled with energy.
Japan, 4’20
‘663114’ (Isamu Hirabayashi, 2011)
I am a 66-year-old cicada. There was a big earthquake. There was a big tsunami. There also was a big accident.
Japan, 7’00
‘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
‘Yonalure: Moment To Moment’ (Ayaka Nakata & Yuki Sakitani, 2011)
Pure animation magic! A tour of arcs and soaring glides that ever ebb and rise through a village as it attempts to separate from the moon.
Japan, 7’53
