28 April 2014

Tokyo University of the Arts at Nippon Connection 2014



Acclaimed independent animator Kōji Yamamura will be presenting a selection of works by recent graduates of the animation graduate programme of Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai) at Nippon Connection 2014.  The students are supervised by Yamamura himself, animation producer Mitsuko Okamoto, who last year presented a selection of works at NC2013, and stop motion animator Yūichi Itō (i-toon.org).  Other animators who teach at the school include Taruto Fuyama of Koma Koma Lab, who is currently developing stop motion animation software, and Royal College of Arts graduate Hiromitsu Murakami.

Here are the 9 films that will be screened at Nippon Connection 2014.  The film descriptions and student profiles were provided by Geidai’s Graduate School of Film and New Media.  I have added official websites/blogs/twitter handles if you'd like to learn more about these up-and-coming East Asian artists.  I just saw some of these films at Stuttgart 2014 and there are some real gems that I will write about in the near future.

Date: Thursday, May 29, 2014 
Time: 17:30
Venue: Naxoshalle Kino, Frankfurt am Main
For Tickets: Nippon Connection



Catherine Munroe Hotes



Everyday Sins (日々の罪悪/Hibi no Zaiaku, 2014)
Guilty is an art university student who is slacking off on her school work and feels horrible about it. Plus, she's confused about her family and Christianity, and she can't even get her ex-boyfriend to accept a small present she bought for him.

Yewon Kim キム・イェオン
Filmography: "Little Sweetheart" 2010, "LANGUAGE" 2011, "My Frame" 2013, "Everyday Sins" 2014
Biography:  Born in Republic of Korea, 1988. Graduated from Korea Animation High school, Department of Animation in 2006. Tokyo Polytechnic University, Department of Animation (2011). Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation 2014).              


Flower Bud (花芽/ Haname, 2014)        
The uncertainty, struggles, and joy of the moment upon becoming an adult. Between lullabies and songs I hum to myself. Between a man and myself. That subtle flickering in a single instant, forgotten once it is over.  Never forget that moment. . .              

Saki Nakano 中野咲
Fimography: “Fragments of One” 2012, “Ream” 2013     
Biography: Born in Gunma, 1988.  Joshibi University of Design. Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation (2014).         



PAMON (パモン, 2014)
PAMON are magical and mysterious creatures who can move the hair on their head however they wish, and communicate using their chest hair. This tale takes a peek at an ordinary day for the PAMON.   

Kazushige Tōma 当真一茂
Filmography: "BANABANAFRIENDS of Work" 2010 "Scary of crack of Work" 2011, "Happy fluffy time of Work" 2013               
Biography: Born in Okinawa, 1988.  Okinawa Prefectural University of the Arts, Department of Design and Crafts Design (2012). Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation (2014). 



Mrs. KABAGOdZILLA (ミセス・カバゴジラ, 2014)  
“Mrs. KABAGodZILLA had a daughter whose feet and arms looked just like her own.” Mother and child were always together, but the mother's hospitalization makes the daughter remember the past, and think a little about what lies ahead. 

Moe Koyano 小谷野萌   https://www.youtube.com/user/MoyanoKOE
Filmography: "Kyu-ri" (2010), "No Sound, I'm Here." (2011), "OPENIT" (2012), "My Dear Flesh" (2013)     
Biography: Born in Tokyo, 1989.  Tokyo Polytechnic University, Department of Animation (2012). Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation (2014).
  
             
Lonesome Hero (ひとりぼっちのヒーロー/Hitori botchi no hīrō, 2014)    
This is for children who couldn't be on their own. And, for the time when you're older and you've forgotten your determination to be on your own.          

Manami Wakai 若井麻奈美  http://jitojito.ninja-web.net/top.html
Filmography: "TRAIANGLE", 2010 "Daily Lives at Daisy Lodge", 2013         
Biography: Born in Kanagawa, 1989.  Tama Art University, Department of Paintings, Oil paintings (2012). Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation (2014).



00:08     (2014)  
This piece takes 8 seconds, and creates intervals between the frames, and then makes them bigger. It's about expansion and enlargement, not the passage of time. 8 seconds becomes that much more luxuriant.    

Yūtarō Kubo 久保雄太郎   https://twitter.com/yutaro960
Filmography: "crazy for it" 2012, "Kicking Rocks" 2013     
Biography: Born in Oita, 1990.  Polytechnic University, Department of Animation (2012). Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation (2014).        


Crazy Little Thing (澱みの騒ぎ/Yodomi no Sakagi, 2014)
The two of them, all alone at home. All alone with her father's corpse. Memories, ideals, and reality all sink beneath the muck. Everyone is alone. Everyone is in solitude.     

Onohana  小野ハナ (Hana Ono)   http://ginkgo.raindrop.jp/
Filmography: "Do as the Fish Tells You" 2013       
Biography: Born in Iwate, 1986.  Iwate University, Department of education, Art and Culture (2009). Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation (2014).



Exit My Room (おでかけ/Odekake, 2014)
He lives his life everyday like it's nothing special. Today he eats, gets dressed, and heads out once again.             

Ayaho Kawakami 川上彩穂  http://moment-moment.tumblr.com/
Filmography: "I'm nothing" (2013)           
Biography: Born in 1989.  Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Department of Ecoregion Science (2012). Graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation (2014).           




My Milk Cup Cow (コップの中の子牛/Koppu no naka no Koushi, 2014)
Father tells his 4-year-old daughter Nunu that there's a cow at the bottom of her milk cup. Nunu believes him and drinks all of her milk, but there is no cow. Nunu gradually stops believing her father, who constantly tells her various lies.       

Yantong Zhu 朱彦潼   https://twitter.com/marumaru_ken
Filmography: "Loft" 2010, "The Man Who Ate an Apple" 2012     
Biography: Born in Nanjing China, 1988. After graduating from Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Department of Adverting in 2010, Zhu came to Japan and started making animated shorts. Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Department of Animation (2014).


Adapted from official press notes provided to Nippon Connection 2014 by Geidai Graduate School of Film and New Media   


Catherine Munroe Hotes 2014