Programme Cardiff 2024

It’s Akino’s first day on the job as a trainee concierge at the “Arctic Department Store”, an unusual department store that caters exclusively to animals. Under the watchful eyes of the floor manager and senior concierges, Akino is tested by customers with myriad needs and problems in her pursuit to become a full-fledged concierge.

Japan | 2023 | 70m | PG | Yoshimi Itazu | Japanese with English Subs

When fate confronts Ryo Saeba, the final chapter of City Hunter begins!

“Angel Dust” is an evil technology that turns its users into superhuman soldiers. Assassins arrive in Tokyo to get hold of the Angel Dust’s latest model. The struggle over the forbidden invention that once took the life of Hideyuki Makimura, Ryo’s former partner, leads Ryo and his partner Kaori into a fateful battle…!

“Ryo Saeba’s destined battle begins!”

Japan | 2023 | 94m | 15 | Kazuyoshi Takeuchi | Japanese with English Subs

HIDARI

Stories have been told of a legendary craftsman during the Edo-era, by the name of Jingoro Hidari. Today, sculptures accredited to Jingoro can be found throughout Japan, but his very existence is yet to be confirmed. Having lost his foster parent and right arm to the betrayal of his senior apprentices, Jingoro is on a journey of revenge with a mechanical prosthetic arm and his sidekick, “Sleeping Cat.” People soon came to call him Jingoro “Hidari” because of his ability to artfully use his carpentry tools with only his left arm (“hidari” means “left” in Japanese). Finally, Jingoro faces one of his adversaries ”Inumaru” and the curtains rise on a fight to the death.

Japan | 2023 | 5m32s | Masashi Kawamura, Iku Ogawa | Japanese with english Subtitles

KAWAMURA Masashi [Original concept / Screenwriter / Director]
Masashi is the Chief Creative Officer of Whatever Co. He founded PARTY in 2011, and after serving as the head of its New York and Taipei studios, he moved on to start Whatever Co. in 2018. He earned more than 100 awards around the world, including Cannes Lions, and has been chosen as one of the Creativity magazine’s “Creative 50,” Fast Company’s “100 most creative people in business,” and AERA magazine’s “100 people breaking out of Japan.”

OGAWA Iku [Character designer / Co-director]
Iku began stop motion animation while a graduate student at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and joined Dwarf after graduation. While working on his own as a director of original characters and short projects, he participated in the first Netflix Rilakkuma series “Rilakkuma and Kaoru” as an assistant director, and worked on the second season “Rilakkuma’s Theme Park Adventure” as overall assistant and episode director. NHK’s “Tuna in an Empty Can” is his completely original short series. 
Currently working on a new project as a series director.


JERO11

JERO11 is a guitarist and shamisen player who composes instrumental rock inspired by traditional Japanese instrumentation. JERO11 produces original music and arranges rock covers of Anime, VOCALOID, video game and shamisen music. In this session he will perform traditional shamisen pieces with a modern twist using his homemade electric box-shamisen.

Autumn from Antonio Vivaldi “The Four Seasons”

Dear Mr. Vivaldi, First, I apologize for setting your music to animation without your permission. Furthermore, I know it was presumptuous of me to make my own interpretations of your work and introduce otters and various other animals that you almost certainly didn’t have in mind. But, I really felt a strong desire to use animals in visualizing your work, which portrays human activities set in the autumn. I wanted to depict ”autumn” that includes it all – humans and animals, hunters and the hunted, dreams and reality. I appreciate your understanding. Sincerely, Atsushi Wada

Japan | 2017 | 11m10s | Atsushi Wada | Japanese with English subtitles

Born in 1980. Graduated from Osaka Kyoiku University, Image Forum Institute of Moving image and Tokyo University of the Arts. Began to create the short animation works in self-study from 2002. In a Pig’s Eye (2010) has been nominated at Zagreb, Annecy, Hiroshima, and Ottawa, and won the Best Film at Fantoche International Animation Film Festival. The Mechanism of Spring (2010) premiered at the Venice Film Festival and The Great Rabbit (2012) won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

In the Big Yard Inside the Teeny-Weeny Pocket

When it shrinks, it expands. It floats and it sinks. It separates but connects. When I think I’m watching them, they’re actually watching me. A charming animation rhyme that weaves together the many days of observing, recording, and experimenting.

Japan | 2022 | 6m37s | Yoko Yuki | Japanese with English subtitles

Born in 1987, Aichi, Japan, currently based in Tokyo. Inspired by everyday events, she creates animation films in a variety of materials. Her main works are “See ya Mr.Banno!” which is based on vague and mysterious memories from her childhood, “Zdravstvuite!” depicting a day with a stranger she met in a seaside town, “A Snowflake into the Night” adapted from a poem by contemporary artist Tomoko Konoike, and the music video “ShalaBonBon” co-produced with musician BonnouShimizu.

Estrange

On the eve of her wedding, Miyo’s best friend, whom she had invited to the party, cuts her off. Realizing that friendships have a shelf life, Miyo thinks back to the days when they were young and joyful.

Japan | 2021 | 6m15s | Kazuki Sekiguchi | Japanese with English Subtitles

Born in Tokyo, Japan, 1991. Graduated from Tama Art University and Tokyo University of the Arts. Started working as a freelance animation filmmaker from 2018. Making Animations about animal characters with soft drawn lines and individual humor.

SHISHIGARI

Deep in the northern mountains, there are people who have been living with the blessings of the mountains. A boy, who is coming of age, journeys into the mountains for his first hunt. He must find the ”Kuroshishi.” The mountain is a world where life and death are divided by a paper-thin line. Sometimes, nature will show its fangs…

Japan | 2019 | 16m57s | Kiyotaka Oshima | Japanese with English Subtitles

Born in 1982. Animator, animation director, and CEO of Studio Durian. He attracted attention for his work in “COIL A CIRCLE OF CHILDREN” (2007), and since then, he has been involved in many theatrical anime productions such as “EVANGELION:2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE.” (2009) and “The Wind Rises” (2013). He was an animation director for “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos” (2011) and was in charge of the script, storyboard, direction and key animation all by himself for episode 18 of “SPACE DANDY Season 2” (2014). He directed the TV animation “Flip Flappers” (2016) for the first time. He founded STUDIO DURIAN with Yuki Nagano in 2017.

Shy outcast Kokoro has been avoiding school for weeks when she discovers a portal in her bedroom mirror. She reaches through and finds herself transported to an enchanting castle where she is joined by six other students. When a girl in a wolf mask explains that they have been invited to play a game, the teens must work together to uncover the mysterious connection that unites them. However, anyone who breaks the rules will be eaten by a wolf. From acclaimed director Keiichi Hara (Colorful, Miss Hokusai) and based on the bestselling novel by Mizuki Tsujimura

Japan | 2022 | 116m | 12A | Keiichi Hara | Japanese with English Subs

With the renowned Ginei Studios shutting down and their buildings about to be demolished, film-maker Genya Tachibana sets out to commemorate this historical moment by interviewing the studios former superstar – the now-reclusive Chiyoko Fujiwara. Thirty years on from her disappearance from the limelight, one question lingers – why did she end her career and vanish at the peak of her acting powers?
As Chiyoko recounts her story, Genya and his cameraman are pulled into a wide-ranging journey through the lens of her films. Interviews and recollections, acting and reality, all blur into the single rich tapestry of a remarkable life.

Japan | 2001 | 87m | PG | Satoshi Kon, Kô Matsuo | Japanese with English Subs

When an ice comet slammed into the planet Venus, terraforming its toxic atmosphere into one capable of sustaining human life, mankind’s dream of colonizing other worlds became a reality. Unfortunately for the colonists, Venus isn’t the paradise they’d dreamed of. As crops fail and competition for resources intensifies, hostilities grow until the two inhabited continents stand on the brink of war.

Japan | 1989 | 103m | 12 | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Japanese with English Subs

Kotaro, a novice editor for a web news, visits Komada Distillery for a project on Japanese craft whisky. Led by a young female president Rui who recently took over the family business, the distillery works hard to reproduce its signature whisky KOMA they had to stop making years ago. KOMA was a brand that Rui’s family had lovingly preserved and a symbol of happiness for all. However, not to mention financial backing, too many clues are missing to revive the whisky once lost. Rui, Kotaro, and the distillery supporters pull together every thread to bring back the whisky filled with family memories.

Japan | 2023 | 91m | 12 | Masayuki Yoshihara | Japanese with English Subs

Tickets for this year’s raffle will be available at the festival, from the Kotatsu stand.

Tickets are 50p each.

Full details of the prizes can be found on our raffle page.

In C.E.75, the fighting still continues. There are independence movements, and aggression by Blue Cosmos…  In order to calm the situation, a global peace monitoring agency called COMPASS is established, with Lacus as its first president. As members of COMPASS, Kira and his comrades intervene into various regional battles. Then a newly established nation called Foundation proposes a joint operation against a Blue Cosmos stronghold.

Japan | 2024 | 126m | 15 | Mitsuo Fukuda | Japanese with English Subs