I had a wicked time screening my Dark Dreams in Plastercine programme of some rather gruesome British stop-motion animation to a suitably cowering crowd at the Barbican last year as part of their Animate the World festival, so was delighted to be asked back for this year’s event, running 22-27 May, with another programme of rare delights. I plumped for some early anime this time round, thanks to those kind folks at Zakka Films, so will be giving a talk on the early years of the industry, with a couple of films screened on the way, climaxing in a rare UK airing of that legendary piece of war propaganda from 1942, Momotaro’s Sea Eagle. I’ll also be introducing the paper cut-out animations of Noburo Ofuji and some other rare treats, such as Yoshitaro Kataoka’s wonderful Danemon Ban: The Monster Exterminator (1935). I’m really looking forward to it!

Yoshitaro Kataoka’s haunting Danemon Ban: The Monster Exterminator (1935)

There’s plenty of other goodies during the week too. Helen McCarthy will be there to introduce a Japanimation double bill of Summer Wars and Dante’s Inferno the day before, on the 25 May, to carry on the Japanese theme. Outside of the Japanese stuff though, there’s a special focus on Czech animator Karel Zeman with screenings of his Invention for Destruction (1958) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1961), a chance to catch Piaxar’s UP in 3D again, if you missed it first time round, and a host of other interesting-looking shorts and features. Move over Mickey!

Karel Zeman's surreal Invention for Destruction (1958)

What with the upcoming screening of Wakamatsu Pro’s The Red Army / PFLP: Declaration of World War as part of the London Palestinian Film Festival on 4 May, and Ladislas Starewitch’s bewildering piece of dead insect-animation The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912) as part of the ongoing Silent Film & Live Music series on 9 May (you’ve got a real treat in store if you’ve never seen this – it’s unbelievable!), it’s a good reminder to check out the Barbican’s programme a lot more often – the tickets are pretty reasonable if you’re a member, and they show some truly amazing stuff.

Ladislas Starewitch’s The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912) - you won't have seen anything like it.

Anyway, here are some more details about my special night from the Barbican Website:

The Origins of Anime (12A)

Cinema 1, 26 May 2010, 18.30.

Japanese film specialist Jasper Sharp explores the origins of anime, with an exclusive selection of influential pre-war animations.

Tickets: Standard £7.50 online (£9.50 full price); Barbican Members £6.50 online (£7.50 full price); Concessions £7.50.

Posted at 18:30 on 26 April 2010 Filed under news.

• Tagged
• Animate the World
• anime
• Barbican
• Danemon Ban: The Monster Exterminator
• Helen McCarthy
• Japanimation
• Karel Zeman
• Ladislas Starewitch
• Momotaro’s Sea Eagle
• Noburo Ofuji
• Origins of Anime
• Yoshitaro Kataoka
• Zakka Films

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Terracotta Far East Film Festival

One specialist festival, Nippon Connection, now over; another, Udine Far East Film Festival with its amazing-looking retro of Shintoho films, currently in progress; and yet another just round the corner, mercifully, given last week’s farrago, closer to home! The website for this year’s Terracotta Far East Film Festival has been pretty lively these past few days, so I am posting up some details for London’s premier event dedicated to Asian cinema.

Coming soon from Third Window, Fish Story

Only two weeks away, and held at the Prince Charles Cinema, within spitting distance of Leicester Square, from 6-9 May 2010 Joey Leung of Terracotta Films will be treating Londoners to various premiers from the Far East, including some intriguing looking titles from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and of course, Japan, the latter represented by Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s 20th Century Boys 3, Shimiko Sato’s K-20: Legend of the Mask, the upcoming Third Window release of Yoshihiro Nakamura’s Fish Story and Mamoru Hosoda’s highly-acclaimed anime, Summer Wars.

Yakuza Eiga, one of two documentaries playing from Yves Montmayeur

Asian film fans will also want to check out the two documentaries from French filmmaker Yves Montmayeur, In the Mood for Doyle and Yakuza Eiga, as well as Johnny To’s latest Vengeance. Among others, Bodyguards and Assassins-director Teddy Chen will be attending the festival, which will also be presenting an award to Jackie Chan – does this mean Jackie’s going to be around too?

Tickets are £7.50 per film, or £6.00 for Prince Charles Cinema members. The full line-up can be found on the festival’s website.

Posted at 17:19 on 26 April 2010 Filed under news.

• Tagged
• 20th Century Boys
• Fish Story
• K-20: Legend of the Mask
• Summer Wars
• Terracotta
• Yves Montmayeur

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I'm the King of the World!!!! Cruising back to Dover.

Wow, that was a longer trip abroad than I expected! Finally got in midnight last night, after a 12 hour car/ferry journey courtesy of a ride-share agency, a concept all but unknown in the UK, but very popular in Germany, and in this particular instance, invaluable – my flights got cancelled twice, and I was getting rather itchy feet in Frankfurt, so am just amazed I am now back at home in one piece. Piles upon piles of stuff to catch up on now I’m back, so this post will be brief, but I just want to say a huge thanks to Marion, Holger, Alex, Mayu, Christiane and all the others at the fest, not only for their work in putting together such a great event, but for their amazing behind-the-scenes level-headedness in making sure all of us were housed and entertained during our extended stay, while they attempted to find ways of getting us all back home. I’d also like to say thanks to my hosts for my final days, Heiko and Kerstin, who kindly provided me with a bed while I ummed and ahed about the best way of making it back home.

Freak volcanoes notwithstanding, this year’s Nippon Connection was the most fun I’ve ever attended, with great films, great guests, and a generally excellent atmosphere all round. Sadly, I fear, few of the organisers got the chance to enjoy the festival as much as they should have, considering it was the tenth anniversary, occupied as they were by these unexpected events in Iceland. Film festivals are an immense amount of work at the best of times, so I really feel for the Nippon Connection staff who had to spend the past few days dealing with the volcanic aftermath, and as far as I know, are still dealing with it now. Hope they get a chance to relax soon and realise what a great job they’ve done. For these and so many other things, I salute them all. See you next year, Frankfurt!

Posted at 14:45 on 22 April 2010 Filed under news.

• Tagged
• Nippon Connection

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