Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival 2017
Country: United Kingdom
Posted By: Joe
Categories: Festival Anime Culture Talk Screening
Chapter - September 29th - October 1st, 2017Aberystwyth Arts Centre - October 28th, 2017
The Largest Festival of Japanese Animation in Wales Announces Dates, Locations and Films for 2017
The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival returns to Wales for another edition in 2017 with audiences able to enjoy a whole host of Welsh premieres, a Japanese marketplace, and a Q&A and special film screening hosted by an important figure from the Japanese animation industry.
The festival begins in Cardiff at Chapter Arts on the evening of Friday, September 29th with a screening of Masaaki Yuasa's film The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (2017), a charming romantic romp featuring a love-sick student chasing a girl through the streets of Kyoto, encountering magic and weird situations as he does so. Festival head, Eiko Ishii Meredith will be on hand to host the opening ceremony and a party to celebrate the start of the festival which will last until October 01st and include a diverse array of films from near-future tales Napping Princess (2017) to the internationally famous mega-hit Your Name (2016). The Cardiff portion of the festival ends with a screening of another Yuasa film, the much-requested Mind Game (2004), a film definitely sure to please fans of surreal and adventurous animation. This is the perfect chance for people to see it on the big-screen since it is rarely screened. A selection of these films will then be screened at the Aberystywth Arts Centre on October 28th as Kotatsu helps to widen access to Japanese animated films to audiences in different locations.
We are also very excited to welcome a very special guest to Wales, Professor Yuichi Ito. He is an award-winning animator who works in television and film as well as teaching at Tokyo National University of Arts. He will be travelling from Japan to Europe where he will present films and a Q&A to the public. He has graciously chosen Kotatsu (September 30th) as one of his two UK dates the other will be at the Encounters Film Festival in Bristol on September 22nd.
Running alongside the film screenings and the animation workshop will be a series of Japanese-themed events and a Japanese market place which sells things such as food, model kits, video games and manga and other goods from Japan. Returning for another year is the very popular children's workshop run by the artist Asuka Bochenska Tanaka who has kindly returned from London to help teach the art of drawing manga. This will allow kids the chance to create their own comic books and get an insight into some of the styles and techniques that go into making the films and television shows they watch.
Additionally, we will hold a Japanese Calligraphy workshop run by London based professional calligrapher Yukiko Ayres, who recently held a workshop at the University of Cambridge.
Just before the final film screening the results of the ever-popular raffle will be announced with prizes on offer.
Kotatsu will provide audiences in Wales the best chance to enjoy a programme made up of the latest and very best in anime, both mainstream and independent, as well as a plethora of cultural activities related to Japan and the creation of anime. This year's line-up of films will continue to inspire, entertain, and educate audiences about anime since it is full of award-winners that prove once again that Japan is the home to some of the best animation and artists in the world.
In partnership with the Japan Foundation.