Aug 21st (Fri) 10:00～ @JMSアステールプラザ中ホール
This special screening showcases films from the Etudes & Anima International Film Festival in Poland, where Katarzyna Surmacz—a jury member for the HAS Competition—serves as Festival Director. The program features a selection of past Grand Prix winners from the festival. Please also enjoy an introductory talk by Koji Yamamura; his films have won numerous awards at the festival, and he created the festival's trailer in 2023.
*Please note that Katarzyna Surmacz, who was scheduled to appear, is unfortunately unable to travel to Japan due to unforeseen circumstances. We ask for your understanding. (Updated August 13)
Guest: Koji Yamamura
The Lying thick snow at a cold night, the humble doctor got a news of emergency arrives. It all starts. mercy of strange village people and paranoia family obsessed a doctor thrown under the wintry sky. Theater of the absurd that was in the original short stories of literary Kafka of the Czech Republic.
Born in 1964. In the 1990s, he created several animated series for children, including Pacusi. His film Mt. Head (2002) was nominated for the 75th Academy Awards, won six Grand Prizes at major festivals including Annecy, Zagreb, and Hiroshima, and was selected as one of the "100 Films for a Century." Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor (2007) went on to win seven Grand Prizes, including at Ottawa and Hiroshima. With the success of his feature film Dozens of Norths (2021), he became a double Grand Prize winner for both short and feature categories at two of the world's leading international animation festivals: Annecy and Ottawa. In total, his animation works have received more than 155 awards worldwide. His short film Extremely Short (2024) was selected for the Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Cinéastes) at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, he wrote the lyrics for "Beruganaru," a song on the popular NHK children's program Okaasan to Issho (With Mother). He is also highly active as a picture book author, known for works such as Oya Oya, Oyasai and Parade. Yamamura has been honored with 10 lifetime achievement and cultural awards, including the Kawakita Award, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize, the Medal with Purple Ribbon, the Klingsor Award, and the Special Golden Dinosaur Award. He is a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, USA), and the Vice President of the Japan Animation Association (JAA).
©MIYAJIMA FILM
Hegemonic shouting booms from an old radio. Propaganda plays the march of war and the people applaud. Regardless, an old woman does what she has always done in autumn: she heats the stove, prepares herbs and spices, boils water, and sets out preserving jars. With her powerful lungs, she blows discipline and order out of sync. Without further ado, the old woman preserves the source of evil between tarragon and dill. Winter can come.
1968 born in Lucerne. Studies in graphic design and animation in Lucerne, Liverpool and Kassel. 1995 scholarship year in Cracow. Working as freelance graphic artist and animator in Zurich. Claudius Gentinettais one of the most acclaimed animation filmmakers in Switzerland. He is especially known for his award-winning short films THE CABLE CAR, SLEEP and SELFIES, which all became huge international festival hits. At the moment He is living with his family in Zurich and Bediglora, working at another promising new film project.
Born in 1965, living and working as a film professional and artist in Zurich, Switzerland Programmer of independent arthouse cinemas in Zurich & Lucerne, Switzerland Co-founder of Fantoche, International Animation Film Festival in Baden, Switzerland Co-director with Claudius Gentinetta of three animated short films: “Cable Car” (2008), “Sleep” (2010), “Islander's Rest” (2015)
When did you last talk with your father? Will you ever ask him about those things that hurt you? In FATHER the reality of life is turned upside down to create an impossible dialogue - the dialogue between a child and a father that never happens.
Born in Sofia and holds a BFA degree in Media & Animation from the Willem de Kooning Academy of Art and Design, Rotterdam (2002). Since then he has been working as a freelance animation director, illustrator and comics artist. He is a co-founder of FinFilm animation studio and Compote Collective. During the last years he has created several award-winning animation films.
He studied animation at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. He created a couple of award-winning shorts, including his graduation film Urs which has also been shortlisted as one of the ten finalists for nomination for the 2011 Academy Awards. He was a jury member at several international film festivals and is currently preparing his first animated feature film.
Born in Pleven and is a graduate of the High School of Applied Arts in Trojan, Bulgaria. Until 2007 he worked as a graphic designer, creating TV programme idents for several televisions in Sofia (bTV, MSAT, TV7). He currently works as a freelancer and creates his own animation projects.
He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Department of Painting, in 2003. He is the co-founder of Prime Render animation studio. Since 2012, he teaches animation at the Arts Academy in Split. His films have been screened and awarded at many world festivals. He was a member of the jury at numerous film festivals.
She graduated from the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia in 2001. Since her graduation she has been working as a graphic designer and art director at several advertising agencies. In the meantime she continues to work as a freelancer creating illustrations, corporate identity, posters and T-shirt design. Her debut in animation direction is the animated-documentary film Father (2012).
Born in Moscow, Russian Federation. He studied animation at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Art in Sofia, Bulgaria. He works as a freelance artist and independent director and animator.
The people are waiting for someone special. Someone special is born – a grown-up man in a suit. They follow the man and cheer for his theatrical but utterly pointless performances. In the middle of one performance he makes a mistake and the people who have so far adored him, leave. Left alone, he meets a woman who is made for him. The theatrical performances continue...
Born 26 January in Viljandi. Morten studied animation in Estonian Academy of Arts and made two films in the process. After his studies he has been working in Eesti Joonisfilm.
Born 26 November in Zagreb. Lucija is an animation film director and illustrator. She studied animation in Zagreb, Krakow, Prague and Tallinn. After graduating from Estonian Academy of Arts she decided to stay in Tallinn and work in Eesti Joonisfilm studio. Besides animated films Lucija has made illustrations for children’s books and caricatures for political magazines.
Fifty-nine-year-old factory worker Beryl is totally obsessed with drawing, and her fixation dominates the entire household. Apart from her husband, Ivor, Beryl’s model and muse, the whole family is addicted to something: her son, Colin, is a technical geek and her sister, Beverly, is a fanatically narcissistic taxidermist. Obsession is in the family’s DNA.
Joanna Quinn is one of Britain’s most distinctive animators. Her first film, Girls Night Out (1987), featuring working-class heroine Beryl, was a humorous riposte to machismo and a celebration of uninhibited female sexuality that won three major awards at Annecy. Since introducing audiences to Beryl, Joanna and her writing and producing partner, Les Mills, have created three more personal films about her: Body Beautiful, Dreams and Desires: Family Ties, and Beryl’s newest adventure, Affairs of the Art. The politics of gender and oppression, along with Joanna’s obsessive fascination and delight with exploring the eccentricities of the female body, remain the central themes of their work together. Joanna’s dynamic, fluid style makes her animation vibrant, energetic and unique. Her films—including Britannia, a savage indictment of British imperialism—have won just about every major international award, including BAFTAs and Emmys, in addition to receiving two Oscar® nominations. A committed educator, Joanna lectures at major colleges and universities around the world.
Absurdist drama about a decayed male ballet dancer and his barking apartment. lls of fortune have deported a ballet dancer Sergei to a suburban kolhoz. Here he’s having his mundane fights against routine, domestic animals and alcohol.
Priit Tender is an Estonian animator – the director, designer and writer of many short animated films. His author films are driven by surreal imagery, black humor and dark existential journeys. Priit’s films have won prizes and nominations from the most important short and animation film festivals, including Annecy, Ottawa, Hiroshima, Dresden, Fredrikstad, Utrecht etc…