Category: Festival News

  • April Collab: Kotatsu at Cardiff Animation Festival

    April Collab: Kotatsu at Cardiff Animation Festival

    Get ready for a double dose of Japanese cinematic brilliance this April as Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival joins forces with Cardiff Animation Festival to bring you an exclusive bundle of Japanese animation goodness, featuring two remarkable films, BLUE GIANT and Lonely Castle in the Mirror.

    Cardiff Animation Festival kicks off 25th April 2024, bringing you another great selection of all things animation. Check out their complete programme line-up over at https://www.cardiffanimation.com, or search using #CAF24.

    Saturday 27th April

    3:50pm Lonely Castle in the Mirror

    ©2022 “Lonely Castle in the Mirror” Film Partners

    Cinema 2

    Seven teens discover their bedroom mirrors are portals, and they’re pulled from their lonely lives to a wondrous castle filled with winding stairways and watchful portraits. A girl in a wolf mask invites them to play a game.

    For ticket information please contact Chapter Box Office Box Office on +44(0)1970 62 32 32

    Japan | 2022 | 116m | 12A | Keiichi Hara | F-Rated | Japanese with English subtitles | Trailer (TBC)

    8:30pm BLUE GIANT

    ©2023 BLUE GIANT Movie Project
    ©2013 Shinichi Ishizuka, Shogakukan

    Cinema 1

    Dai Miyamoto is in the basketball club in middle school. One day, his friend takes him to a live jazz performance, which touches him on a deep level. From that point on, he begins to practice the tenor sax by himself, with no formal education, and no ability to read sheet music. He aims to become the world’s best saxophone player.

    For ticket information please contact Chapter Box Office Box Office on +44(0)1970 62 32 32

    Japan | 2023 | 120m | 12A | Yuzuru Tachikawa | Japanese with English subtitles | Trailer

    Join us this April as Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival and Cardiff Animation Festival proudly present these two exceptional films. With captivating storytelling and stunning animation, this showcase is sure to delight. Don’t miss out on this unique cinematic experience!

    Also available in our Marketplace – open all day (11am – 5pm)

    Kotatsu Festival Stand

    A selection of Japan/Anime/Manga related goods. All money raised on this stand will be used to help fund future Kotatsu Festival events. To reduce the use of plastic bags, please bring your own bags if possible.

    Wazakka

    Hand made bags, small pouches, Japan-themed items.

    Japan-bits

    Selection of cute amigurumi – hand made characters, and Japan-themed items.

  • Machine As A Hero? Free Online Talk

    Machine As A Hero? Free Online Talk

    Free Zoom Talk with FUJITSU Ryota
    10th Nov 2023 @ 6:30pm

    Anime fans! If you love giant robots, this one’s for you! Join us November 10th for an online talk by FUJITSU Ryota, an anime critic, as we explore the evolution of machines as characters in Japanese animation. The talk will take place on Zoom, so you’ll need the Zoom client installed on your device to take part.

    Book Your Space Now

    In partnership with Japan Foundation London.

    As part of the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2023, FUJITSU Ryota, Japan’s leading animation critic, will unveil mecha-anime from Japan, overviewing its characteristics. He will also discuss in this special online-talk, the progress of this genre in story as well as style, while referring to the social circumstances and viewership when these works were made.

    FUJITSU Ryota
    A Japanese anime critic. He became a freelance writer after working as a newspaper reporter and weekly magazine editor. His writing primarily focuses on anime-related topics and has been featured in magazines, BD booklets, and web media. His books include Anime ‘hyoronka’ sengen (The Declaration of an ‘Anime Critic’, 2003), and Channeru wa itsumo anime (Channels Are Always Anime, 2010). FUJITSU Ryota serves as an adjunct lecturer at Tokyo Polytechnic University and holds the position of programming advisor for the anime section of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

  • Tokyo Godfathers Xmas Special

    Tokyo Godfathers Xmas Special

    We are very excited to announce a special Xmas screening of Tokyo Godfathers, written and directed by Satoshi Kon. Tickets can be purchased via the Chapter website, or from their Box Office on +44(0)29 2030 4400.

    Saturday 17th December 2022

    17:30 Tokyo Godfathers

    © 2004 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved

    On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

    Japan | 2003 | 88‘ | 12 | Satoshi Kon | Japanese with English subtitles | Trailer

    Also available on the day

    Manga Kissa (Manga Café)

    The manga kissa reading area makes a welcome return. Why not settle down in our comic corner and read some of your favourite manga or general Japan-related books or magazines. If you have any spare reading material, please consider bringing them along and donating them to our reading area for others to enjoy.

    The majority of reading materials are kindly donated by Andrew Offiler from Calon. Thank you Andrew!

    Please don’t take them home, so others can enjoy!

    Wazakka

    Hand made bags, small pouches, Japan-themed items.

  • Free Animation Workshops

    Free Animation Workshops

    Anime Education Workshop

    Photo of Ryota Fufitsu - Workshop discussing Spirited Away

    Anime critic Ryota Fujitsu hosts a discussion about Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-winning film ‘Spirited Away’, with live translation by Kaori Onoda. Please make sure you have watched ‘Spirited Away’ before attending this event.

    Online via Microsoft Teams
    9 April 2022
    11am – 12:30pm
    Suitable Age: 13+

    Email us at info@kotatsufestival.com or you can also register your booking via the Eventbrite website.

    5-Day Animation Workshop

    Facilitated by Cardiff Met School of Art and Design

    Please attend all 5 days to get the most out of this animation workshop. Note: Lunch not provided

    Cardiff Central Library
    25-29 April 2022
    10am – 4pm
    Suitable Age: 8+

    Email us at info@kotatsufestival.com or you can also register your booking via the Eventbrite website.

    Bookings

    Please contact us at info@kotatsufestival.com, or register via the Eventbrite links above.

  • Cardiff Animation Festival – April Collaboration

    Cardiff Animation Festival – April Collaboration

    We are so thrilled to announce, in collaboration with Cardiff Animation Festival, that we will screen two Anime films at Chapter in April. The first is Ongaku which won last year’s Kotatsu Festival Audience Award 2021. Then on Sunday, April 10, we will screen Summer Ghost, only released in Japan in November 2021, and directed by Loundraw.  This is his directorial debut. Previously he was in charge of concept design for Josse, The Tiger and the Fish and undertook the illustration for I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.

    Both films will be followed by a pre-recorded Q&A with the director.

    Ongaku

    Ongaku Tickets

    Fri 8 Apr 11:30AM

    Sat 9 Apr 11:00AM

    Summer Ghost

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWqgZf5493k
    Summer Ghost Tickets

    Sun 10 Apr 5:15PM

    Cardiff Animation Festival screens excellent, diverse programmes, so please check out their line up!

  • Koji Yamamura: In The Studio Where Japan’s Leading Animation is Born

    Koji Yamamura: In The Studio Where Japan’s Leading Animation is Born

    Koji Yamamura: In the studio where Japan’s leading animation is born.

    Kotatsu Festival teams up with our partner The Japan Foundation (London) again this year, to offer the opportunity to virtually meet Koji Yamamura, leading creator of Japanese animation such as the Oscar-nominated Mt.Head (2002) and a regular contributor to the UK animation scene, including the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival. Koji returns this year to discuss his stellar career spanning over three decades.

    In conversation with film critic, film-maker, and visual artist, Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi, this online event will be an unmissable opportunity for animation-lovers and aspiring makers of animated work to gain a first-hand practical insight into the workings of a successful animation studio.

    Tickets are free but booking is required.

    To attend the event you will be required to use Zoom, so please download and install the Zoom client prior to the date of the event. Once your registration is accepted, we will send you an access code on the day of the event.

    Saturday 15th October from 13:00 (BST)

    Booking Available Here

    Suitable for all ages

  • WOW Festival Collaboration

    WOW Festival Collaboration

    Celebrate International Women’s Day

    Nekoze Kansatsuki – Hikari Yamashita

    To celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, WOW Women’s Film Club invited our festival director Eiko Meredith to hand-pick a selection of animated shorts crafted by up-and-coming female animators working in Japan, and to organise an online Creative Workshop by Japanese animator and illustrator Chie Arai.

    The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Choose To Challenge‘, so the Kotatsu Festival team have brought together a number of works by up-and-coming female film-makers, all of which are family-friendly and are rated U or PG.

    Date: 13th March 2021
    Watch online for FREE using the WOW Film Festival platform via:

    WOW 2021 on Eventive

    More details in the full article below.

    (more…)
  • Kotatsu Festival Launch 2017 Programme

    Kotatsu Festival Launch 2017 Programme

    The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival starts on September 29th at Chapter Arts in Cardiff with the opening ceremony where festival director Eiko Meredith will introduce Wales to a selection of some of the best animated films to come from Japan over the course of the last year.

    (more…)
  • Kotatsu Festival 2017

    Kotatsu Festival 2017

    We are happy to announce the dates for Kotatsu 2017! The Cardiff event will be held from 29th September to 1st October at Chapter. The date for Aberystwyth will be announced soon.

    (more…)
  • Kotatsu Festival 2016

    Kotatsu Festival 2016

    We are happy to announce the dates for Kotatsu 2016! The events will be held on 24th  and 25th September at Chapter and 29th October at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

    The festival will be screening lots of Welsh Premiere films. Also our market place will be open to the public for 2 days, with our favourite stalls offering a taste of Japan including manga, toys and authentic food Bento box.

    Please note the marketplace will be held only at Chapter.

    Festival Raffle will be held again at the end of the event with lots of exciting prizes on offer. From this year raffle will be taken place at both venues. Tickets will be made available nearer the festival.

    We hope everyone will come and enjoy the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2016.