Our Kotatsu Festival has been mentioned in this month’s NEO, the UK magazine that focuses on East Asian entertainment, with articles on Japanese anime and manga; Hong Kong, Korean and Japanese films; and Japanese pop, rock and visual-kei music and games.
The November issue also has a fantastic article about the film Redline, which is coincidentally enjoying its Welsh premiere at this year’s festival.
Check out the NEO magazine for lots of great articles on Japanese animation and film.
At last, we have a confirmed date for this year’s Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival. We are happy to announce that the festival will take place on Friday and Saturday, the 25th and 26th of November 2011.
As last year, we are having Japanese short film screenings at the Atrium on the evening of the 25th. Last year’s screenings showcased some great short animations from up and coming artists across Japan, and this year we hope it will be bigger and better. Also showing will be some of the students’ work from the University of Glamorgan animation course. Afterwards will be drinks in Gwdihw for those wishing to carry on.
Then on the Saturday 26th, we will have the usual Japanese Marketplace throughout the day at Chapter Arts Centre, with lots of Japanese themed merchandise on sale. Local entrepreneurs Otakuzoku will be there again, bringing their retro video-games, manga, comic-books, and toys – both from the UK and imported directly from Japan. Yakiniku, a local Korean/Japanese restaurant will be providing food and snacks for all tastes. More retailers to be confirmed.
We are still in negotiations to secure the main feature film for the weekend, but rest assured we are trying our best to bring you another blockbuster Welsh premiere. More details to be announced as soon as we have confirmation.
And of course, don’t forget the raffle! Make sure you get your tickets to be in with a chance of winning some great prizes. Check out the Raffle page for the current list of prizes. We have lots more prizes still to come, so keep checking back.
After almost a year of hard work and planning, the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2010 launched on Friday 26th November, with a series of short animated films screened at the Atrium, part of the University of Glamorgan in Cardiff. Although the extreme weather conditions caused a greatly reduced turnout – even our own festival organiser was snow-bound 10 miles away – about 40 cold but dedicated people still managed to turn up to revel in the animated offerings of some of Japan’s finest up and coming artists.
Thankfully the weather eased off a little for Saturday, as more people turned out for the two screenings of Ponyo, which was also shown on Friday afternoon. An old story retold by none other than the master himself Hayao Miyazaki, co-head of Studio Ghibli, Ponyo follows the story of Sosuke, a 5yr old boy who lives with his mother by the sea, and his relationship with Ponyo, a goldfish princess who is desperate to become human, only to find out that to do so would jeopardise the delicate balance of all life on Earth. It is interesting, as an aside, to note that since the success of Studio Ghibli’s oscar-winning Spirited Away, Disney are taking a much larger interest in all things Ghibli, and Ponyo is no exception being distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
Next up was the Masterclass with Barry Purves, an animator, director and writer held in high regard, with a long list of successful credits such as Mars Attacks!, Chortle and the Wheelies, Captain Kremmen, Dangermouse, King Kong and many others. Interviewed by Tim Allen, whose work includes Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, Creature Comforts and Fantastic Mr Fox, Barry recounted stories and insights from his life in animation. Barry’s films have achieved more than sixty awards around the world, with his theatrical style and often controversial themes. Barry Purves’ website can be found at www.barrypurves.com.
One of the many highlights of the 2 hour masterclass, was a short film by talented French student Damien Ferrié entitled “Overtime”, which was produced as a tribute to the late, great Jim Henson. Animation was done completely in CGI, whilst faithfully and convincingly recreating all the subtleties and nuances of hand made puppets.
Sunday kicked off with a card making workshop, Japanese themed of course, under the expert guidance of Vanessa Feuillade from Inspired Bliss. The short film screenings that followed were each hand picked by the guest speakers Midoriko Hayashi and Tetsuji Kurashige and showing three distinct styles of animation; anime, hand-crafted and artistic. Midoriko Hayashi organises animation screenings in Japan, through her organisation Animation Tapes, while Tetsuji Kurashige is a lecturer in animation at Hokkaido University of Education.
So what was next, ah yes, the raffle. There were so many prizes this year that it took nearly an hour to call out all the names. Suffice to say that there were some really good prizes on offer, especially the Ghibli art book, and the top prize of a Wacom graphics tablet (you know who you are you lucky people).
Last, but certainly not least, was the Welsh premiere of Summer Wars, finishing off the festival in style. From Mamoru Hosoda, who previously directed the multi-award winning “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” (時をかける少女, Toki o Kakeru Shoujo), comes this mixture of traditional Japanese animation with a thoroughly modern twist. The story surrounds Kenji Koiso, a high school student who, on request, pretends to be the boyfriend of class mate Natsuki Shinohara at her large family house for a summer holiday. Whilst there he receives, and solves, a mysterious mathematical puzzle sent to his mobile, resulting in his online account at OZ, the world-wide social and financial Second-LifeTM type network/virtual world, being hacked by The Love Machine, an artificial intelligence out to destroy the system. The film is a mixture of traditional anime style and CGI, with the CGI being used to portray the vast online virtual world of OZ, which looks like it could possibly be inspired by the artwork of Takashi Murakami.
The real atmosphere of the festival came from the events in the Chapter foyer, as it played host to guest stall holders selling a fantastic and wide ranging selection of Japanese art, books, food, snacks, drinks, merchandise and more.
Over the weekend, visitors were able to wander through the marketplace and savour the treats on offer from vendors such as London-based TK Trading, the UK’s No.1 importer of Japanese and Oriental Foods, the delightful sumi-e artwork from the studio of Takumasa Ono, the pop-culture merchandise from Cardiff-based Otakuzoku, and the delicious food from Yakiniku, a Japanese and Korean restaurant based in St Mellons.
Oh and not forgetting the various exhibits, such as the animated Flipbooks, there was even one drawn in 3d! with anaglyph red/cyan glasses, and the beautiful stop motion animation puppets on display. There was so much to see, and it was nice to have the Chapter buzzing with excitement; surely a fun filled and interesting day out for all ages.
So, it’s all over for this year. We’ll be posting blogs throughout the year to keep up to date with developments in Japanese animation, and maybe a bit of pop culture too. Stay tuned for news of next year’s festival due to be announced early next year. We’ve already been offered a rough date, and hopefully we’ll avoid any snow! So all that remains is to thank everyone who came along to any of the events, and especially the event organisers and guest speakers, we couldn’t have done it without you.
If you have any questions or requests for this or next year’s festival, be sure to leave a comment below.
Once again, thank you all.
Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came to the festival – despite the very, very unfortunate weather. Sadly a lot of people couldn’t make it… Please come to the next one!
Also thank you very much for all the funding organizations such as The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Japan Foundation, The Japan Society, and Atrium (which sponsored Barry Purves’ Masterclass), lots of companies and artists who kindly donated money and prizes for our festival raffle, and last but not least Chapter Arts Center, who were also very supportive. We couldn’t have done our first festival without their help. (Please help us again!) People who couldn’t come to the festival this time, please don’t worry – Broadstroke Productions documented all the events on video, and these clips will go on to our website soon.
Festival Director Eiko Meredith is so happy, our Japanese culture is accepted by the nice people in Cardiff. Thank you!
Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival is happy to present a special Japanese themed teddy bear called, rather affectionately, ‘Akiko’. Aki in Japanese means “Autumn”, and female given names often end in the syllable -ko, written with the kanji meaning “child” (子). So this teddy is a girl of Autumn, or “Autumn Girl”. Akiko is a limited edition Teddy, handmade by Jules Bears and Crafts in Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, GB. She is made out of 100% mohair, with glass eyes, hardboard cotter pin, and polyester filling. She is one of a limited edition of 25. Akiko is only being made especially for the Festival, and she will be on display at Chapter during the festival weekend. She can be purchased through Isabella’s, at the bargain price of £80. Please feel free to say hello to her when you come to the festival.
I visited Cardiff in 1992, when I co-operated to curate special programs of Japanese animation for an international animation festival held in Cardiff at that time. I remember that I felt very relaxed during my stay, where I enjoyed the comfortable atmosphere of this historical city, and also, by many people I met at the shopping centre who were so kind and warm. I even thought of living in a city like Cardiff! Perhaps, the Welsh language might have given me a warm impression too.
Then, in HIROSHIMA ’98, I was very pleased to show a very strong special program of Welsh Animation, having originality and individuality in variety, and I also showed the program in Okinawa after our festival. At that time, I was delighted to learn the unique history and climate of Wales, reflected in the films. As such, I truly hope the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2010 will provide a good opportunity for Japanese animation film-makers to spread their animation culture in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, as well as to study the very high-quality British animation art too.
I also hope that the Festival will serve as a good site for friendship and exchange, just like a family gathering at Kotatsu, supporting many Japanese animation film-makers to become very successful internationally.
Sayoko Kinoshita
Festival Director
International Animation Festival in Japan – HIROSHIMA
We are very honoured to have received a personal message from the one of the biggest and most respected names in Japanese animation, Isao Takahata, Film Director, and Co-head of Studio Ghibli
I am delighted to hear that this Japanese Animation Film Festival will be held at Cardiff, a city with a tradition of hosting film festivals. When I was informed that the title of the Festival was to be KOTATSU, I immediately felt something of a personal affinity; it was very much a serendipitous moment for me. By sheer coincidence one of my own films “Hohokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun” (My Neighbors the Yamadas) has many scenes based around the kotatsu, a Japanese style of room/body heater. The image of sitting around the kotatsu symbolizes the pleasure of happy family life in Japan. If you ever have the opportunity to see the film you will understand what kotatsu means. And that’s why I am particularly pleased to be able to wish every success to the KOTATSU Film Festival.
Isao Takahata
Message translated by Midori Matsui
Screenplay
by Barry Purves
Hello everybody, Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival has some great news. One of the greatest animation directors, Barry Purves, has agreed to do a guest talk for our festival. He made a beautiful Japanese-themed short film ‘Screenplay’ in 1992. At the event he is going to talk about the making of the film and his current work. Tim Allen will be the interviewer.
This event will be held at 20:00hrs on Saturday November 27th. We are also arranging a book signing event too.
The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2010 has been announced and will take place from the 26th – 28th November at the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, South Wales, UK.
“We really hope it’s a big success and will lead to closer working relationships between Wales and Japan. We are in negotiation with various special guests to come along and give workshops and talks for the general public and anyone who is interested in getting into the animation industry.”
Festival Director Eiko Meredith.