環 太 平 洋 ・ ア ジ ア のアニメーション界の達成

A n i m a t i o n S ce n e s i n
Pan-Pacific and Asia

G O L D E N
C A R P STA R

ゴールデン・カープスター

2020

2021

環 太 平 洋 ・ ア ジ ア のアニメーション界の達成

A n i m a t i o n S ce n e s i n
Pan-Pacific and Asia

G O L D E N
C A R P STA R

ゴールデン・カープスター

2020

2021

Table of Contents

003

About the Golden Carpstar

060

West Asia

005

Golden Carpstar 2020-2021 Award Winners

060

Recommendation | Amir Houshang Moein

006

Kristine Belson

061

007

Science SARU

A note from Asifa Iran’s International Representative
Dr. Fatemeh Hossseini-Shakib

008

Joe Hsieh009

Documentary and Experimental Film Center (DEFC)

062

Oceania

010

Feinaki Beijing Animation Week

011

Yoriko Mizushiri

Iran

013

Recommendation | Malcolm Turner

064

Report | Malcolm Turner

067

North America

Japan
Recommendation

014

Australia

062

Koji Takase and Research Team, Alex Dudok de Wit
ReportCanada067

Recommendation | Marco de Blois

016

Feature Films | Koji Takase

018

Series/Streaming | Koji Takase

068

Recommendation | Alex Dudok de Wit

020

Short Films | Daisuke Tanaka

069

Report | Alex Dudok de Wit

022

Festival and Award | Daisuke Tanaka

028

Online | Koji Takase

071

Latin America

030

Staff | Koji Takase

032

Business | Tadashi Sudo

071

Recommendation | Alejandro R. González

036

Exhibitions | Mederu Kiritori

072

Report | Alejandro R. González

038

Academia/Journalism/Education | Masashi Koide

041

East Asia
Korea

041

Recommendation | Yu-jin Choi

042

Report | Yu-jin Choi
China

043

Recommendation | Yantong Zhu

044

Report | Yantong Zhu
Taiwan047

Recommendation | Chi-Sui Wang

048

Report | Chi-Sui Wang

049

Southeast Asia
All Southeast Asia countries

049

Recommendation | Leong Puiyee

050

Report | Leong Puiyee

054South Asia
India

054

Recommendation | Sekhar Mukherjee

055

Report | Sekhar Mukherjee

USA

All Latin American countries

About the Golden Carpstar
The “Golden Carpster” is an award established by the new animation
film festival “Hiroshima Animation Season”. The award will be presented to an individual, group, or organization in the Pan-Pacific and Asia
region that has made significant achievements during the two-year
period from 2020 to 2021, and will be selected based on their past
career and other factors.
Carpstar: The mascot character of the Hiroshima Animation Season, designed by Koji
Yamamura, one of the artistic directors of the Festival. The character is a combination of the“carp,” which is familiar to Hiroshima citizens, and a twinkling star.

Selection Criteria
Individuals or organizations that, through their activities (mainly from2020 to 2021, but also including activities before that date), will makea significant contribution to the animation community and have a social impact (or can be considered as a model for the realization of apeaceful society). The overall evaluation will be made with particularemphasis on innovation, internationality, diversity, pioneering spirit,and continuity.

Selection Process
Based on over 60 pages of recommendation documents compiled by aresearch team of experts in various fields organized by the Hiroshima
Animation Season and a list of recommendations from recommendation committee members in the Pan-Pacific and Asia region, theselection committee decides multiple winners.

Golden Carpstar Selection Committee

Ryohei Miyamoto
Animation exhibition – archivist

Nobuaki Doi
Producer, Hiroshima Animation Season

Koji Yamamura

Recommendtion Members (International)

Artistic Director, Hiroshima Animation Season

East Asia
Shizuka Miyazaki
Artistic Director, Hiroshima Animation Season

Koji Takase
Animation Critic *Only for the Japanese winners

In charge of Korea

Yu-jin Choi
Secretary General of Korea Independent Animation Association,
General manager, Indie Ani-fest
In charge of China

Research Team (Japan)

Yantong Zhu
Artistic Director, Feinaki Beijing Animation Week

Team reader, in charge of Feature, Series, Staff, Online

In charge of Taiwan

Koji Takase

Chi-Sui Wang

Animation Studies

Taichung International Animation Festival / Associate Professor,
National Taipei University of the Arts

In charge of short films

Daisuke Tanaka
Editor-in-Chief of tampen.jp
In charge of academics

Masashi Koide
Professor at Tokyo Zokei University
In charge of business

Tadashi Sudo

Southeast Asia
In charge of all Southeast Asia countries

Leong Puiyee
Senior Manager, Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film

South Asia

Journalist

In charge of India

In charge of exhibitions

Sekhar Mukherjee

Mederu Kiritori

Professor, National Institute of Design, India

Art critic

West Asia

Research Cooperation
Akiko Sugawa
Professor, Yokohama National University / President, Japanese Society
for Animation Studies

Mitsuko Okamoto
Professor, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo Universityof the Arts

Kensuke Ohno
GIFMAGAZINEIn charge of IranAmir Houshang Moein
Animation Artist

Oceania
In charge of Australia

Malcolm Turner
Director, Melbourne International Animation Festival

North America
In charge of Canada

Takashi Ohashi
Motionographer

Emiko Ogawa
Head of Prix Ars Elecronica

Marco de Blois
Curator of Animation, Cinematheque Quebecois
In charge of USA

Alex Dudok de Wit
Journalist / Translator

Kenichi Kutsuna
Animator

Latin America

Yusuke Shono

In charge of all Latin American countries

EditorAlejandro R. González

Aki Yamada
TBS, DigiCon6 ASIA Festival Director

Shota Umehara
CloverWorks

Yoichi Senzui
Director of Photography

Koichi Noguchi
Toei Animation

Director of ANIMA - Córdoba International Animation Festival

Golden Carpstar

2 0 2 02 0 2 1A w a r d

W i n n e r s

President, Sony Pictures Animation

Kristine Belson

USA

Biography
As President of Sony Pictures Animation, Kristine
Belson oversees the development and production of
all theatrical features, shorts, and series produced by
the company and is responsible for the studio’s overall
strategy and growth. “Spider-Man: Spider-Verse won
the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature”. “The
Mitchells vs the Machine” also won numerous awards.
Prior to joining Sony Pictures Animation in 2015, Belson
spent nearly a decade at DreamWorks Animation. She
served as executive producer on “How to Train Your
Dragon.” Prior to that, she spent more than 15 years
developing and producing live-action and animation
for The Jim Henson Company, Columbia Pictures,
Turner Pictures, and 20th Century Fox.

Award motivation“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “The Mitchells
vs the Machines” reminded the world that not all
Hollywood animated features need to look alike,thanks to their bold and unique visual styles. Belson
believes that we will see more adult-oriented animation in the near future, as viewers’ attitudes become
more open to a wider range of animated expression
in the wake of the Corona disaster. If that trend does
come, Sony Pictures Animation would lead.
Hollywood animation continues to occupy the number
one position in the world in terms of size and influence.
While many new trends are emerging in the industry,Sony Pictures Animation’s practices are providing

guidance to many creators by showing that animation
can be more diverse.
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “The Mitchells
vs the Machines” are examples of the rich storytellingthat visual innovation can enable. The films, which
also have a popular appeal, contribute to nurturing therich sensitivities of children around the world.

Production Company

Science SARU

Japan

Award motivation“Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!”, “Japan Sinks:
2020”, “Inu-oh” and “The Heike Story”... All of theirworks have been highly acclaimed and talked about
worldwide. Since the studio’s establishment, it hascontinued to renew and present new possibilities forJapanese animation.
Science SARU, headed by Korean-born producer Choi
Eunyoung, is a very unique “multinational” production
studio in the Japanese animation industry, with staff
from Europe and other countries. The studio also pursues unique visual expression by building a production
system that utilizes Adobe Flash (now Animate), which
is not common in Japan and is also working to improve

the working environment.
The projects “The Heike Story” and “Inu-Oh” are basedon the Japanese classic novel Tale of the Heike (andrelated works), but present a new form of “historical”
animation. This approach encourages viewers to focus
on what has been obscured by the larger history andbroadens their perspectives.
Brief History
Science SARU is an animation studio established in
2013. With a diverse and flexible style, they challenge
new expressions through unique stories and plan andproduce works that are loved around the world.

Outline
Taiwanese independent animation director who
pursues the dark side of human nature and produces
many works filled with horror and suspense. His“Meat Days” (2006) was nominated for the Pusan
International Film Festival, and “The Present” (2014)
was nominated for the Sundance Film Festival andwon the Best Animated Short Film Award at the San
Diego Asian Film Festival. “Night Bus” (2020) won
Best Animated Short Film at the Taipei Golden HorseAwards, the Grand Prix at the Zagreb International
Animated Film Festival, and the Short Film Jury
Animation Award of the Sundance Film Festival.
Animation Artist

Joe Hsieh

TaiwanAward motivation
Joe Hsieh is a filmmaker who has been continuously creating and presenting works in the “horror”
genre. 2020’s “Night Bus” is his masterpiece and has
been extremely well received at film festivals aroundthe world.
Joe Hsieh’s films are not only horror as a form ofentertainment, but also offer a deeper look into thedarker desires hidden in human beings and the social
structures that create such emotions. While there
are few artists who continue to create horror works
in animation, and it is not a flourishing genre, Joe
Hsieh’s work expands the possibilities of animation
expression.

Joe Hsieh is a representative of Taiwan’s animation
scene, which has been on the rise in recent years. In
particular, his continuous production of high-quality
works in the unique genre of horror animation may
serve as a model for future generations of animators.
Although horror is often seen as a B movie, the horror
element in Joe Hsieh’s films is an excellent commentary on the dark emotions that we all have, the social
systems that create those emotions, and the universal
nature of human beings themselves.

Institute Festival

Documentary and Experimental Film Center(DEFC)
IRAN

Award motivation
DEFC has contributed to the diversification of the film
industry in Iran through its continuous involvement in
the production of art films, animations, documentaries,and experimental films. The continuous activity overthe past 30 years has provided an extremely usefulmodel not only in Iran but also internationally.

Brief History
The Documentary and Experimental Film Center was
established in 1984 as the center for experimental
and semi-professional films. Initially producing 16mm
films to entice young people to become filmmakers,
the center has produced over 1000 professional
documentaries, films, and animations to date. It has
also become one of the most notable production
companies in the area. The center has also been organizing a prestigious “Cinema Vérité” Iran International
Documentary Film Festival”, one of the most influential Iranian film festivals. DEFC also publishes twoquarterly magazines, “Cinema Verite” and “Cinema
Animation,” organizes weekly screenings, and holds
workshops on documentary film and animation.

The Center’s work is not limited to film production,
but also includes the organization of film festivals andthe production of publications, thereby preserving the
local film culture and promoting it into the future.
The Fourth Wall (2021, animated short film), producedby the Center, won the Grand Prix in the Animation
Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival, as well as
numerous other awards at film festivals around theworld. It is a notable achievement in discovering
new Iranian talent and connecting them to the world.
Director Mahboobeh Kalee was also selected as aninvitee for the “H-AIR Hiroshima Artist-in-Residence,”
a project within the Hiroshima Animation Season 2022.
The Center’s production of “The Fourth Wall” hasbecome one of the most important short animation
films of the past few years, not only in Iran but alsointernationally. The technique of telling a family story
by moving an entire kitchen room expands the rangeof stories that can be depicted only by animation.

Animation Event

Feinaki Beijing Animation Week
ChinaAward motivation
Currently, China’s animation industry is enjoying agreat deal of momentum and is gradually gaining recognition worldwide. On the other hand, the presenceof Chinese artists who produce works on an individual
basis is also increasing day by day. The animation
event Feinaki, which started in 2019, keeps promoting
the international momentum of the animation situation in China. It provides an opportunity to showcase
a variety of animation in China and serves as a venue
for Chinese artists to present their work. It also serves
as a showcase for outstanding works made in China topromote the international film festival scene.
It also provides commercial exposure for animatorsof various styles through its involvement in the production of the children’s animated feature film “To theBright Side”.
The festival also promotes international exchange byincreasing the possibility of showing foreign films in
China, as well as by spreading the work of Chinese artists internationally as much as possible and making it
accessible to people from different cultures.

In addition to holding events in Beijing, the festival
actively conducts screening tours in various locationsin China, providing opportunities for people to experience a wide variety of animated films.
Through its international network, the festival has
shown young filmmakers that they can build theircareers not only in China but also abroad, thereby
broadening their range of options.

Overview
Feinaki Beijing Animation Week, first held in 2019 (andannually thereafter), is an animation event curated incollaboration with internationally connected Chinese
animation artists, researchers, and curators who
frequently travel to animation festivals around theworld. The event inspires, encourages, and provides
ongoing opportunities for the presentation of diverse
expressions of animation, thereby supporting a greater international acceptance of their work. As a result,the event seeks to encourage the creation of a richer
ecosystem for animation filmmakers in China.

Award motivation
In 2020-21, two of her films won international acclaim:
the VR animation “Otawamure” won Best VR Film at the2021 Zagreb International Animation Film Festival, andthe animated short “Anxious Bodies” won more than 10
awards worldwide including Best Non-Narrative Filmat the Ottawa International Animation Film Festival,and has been selected for numerous other festivals.
The overwhelming recognition in the field of shortfilms during the period under review contributed tothe promotion of animation in Japan.
While the development of hardware and software has
led to an increase in the number of artists producing
animation on an individual basis here in Japan, few
are able to continue to do so on an ongoing basis.
Under such circumstances, Mizushiri’s career serves
as an ideal form of activity for the construction of the
career of an individual artist in Japan.
The unique focus on “the everyday body and therestoration of its senses” has a message that leads to“the maintenance of (physical and mental) health,” animportant aspect of the human condition.

Animation Artist

YorikoMizushiri

Japan

Biography
Born in 1984 in Towada City, Aomori Prefecture,
Japan. She creates sensuous animations using bodyparts and familiar objects as motifs. Her works
have been screened and awarded at numerous film
festivals in Japan and abroad, including the JapanMedia Arts Festival’s Animation Division New Face
Award (“Futon”) and Cannes Film Festival’s selection(Director’s Fortnight) for the Short Film Competition(“Anxious Body”).

Koji Takase and Research Team
Animation Critic

Director

Hideaki Anno
Reason for recommendation

After over 25 years, when the original
series become a phenomenon in 1995,
the series came to a thrilling end with
Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Timein 2021. As the chief director, he founded the studio to create the Rebuild of
Evangelion series, created a new typeof workflow, and produced animatedfilms from his independent mind thatgrossed over 10 billion yen in thedomestic box office. Additionally, as
the chairman of the Anime Tokusatsu
Archive Centre (ATAC), he is very
involved in the preservation of culture and passing it down to the next
generation. In 2021, the Hideaki Anno
Exhibition, a retrospective history on
his work with animation and special
effects, was held.

Music Animation Music Videos

Eve

Music

Kensuke Ushio
Reason for recommendation

In addition to his work as a musician
under the moniker agraph and composing for live action films, he has
worked on music for animated films
such as Japan Sinks: 2020 (2020),
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop(2021), and The Heike Story (advanced
streaming release 2021). His uniquecollaboration with director Naoko
Yamada goes beyond accompanimentand into a realm of directing that is
worthy of recognition.

Reason for recommendation

Voice Acting

As a singer-songwriter whose work
has been featured in anime such as
Jujutsu Kaisen (2020-2021) and Josee,
the Tiger and the Fish (2020), many ofhis songs have been accompanied byanimation music videos which arereleased on his YouTube channel. The
project features a new generation ofyoung animators from the Niconico

Megumi Ogata
Reason for recommendation

and Vocaloid cultural sphere, a variety of directors that were selected
for each song, and Eve’s presence
which—unexpectedly—act as theshowcase for animation expression.

She starred in two hit films in 2021,
as Shinji Ikari in Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.01
Thrice Upon a Time and Yuta Okkotsu
in Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie. Her accomplishments also go beyond voiceacting, such as the publication of her
autobiography, Saisei (Kari)—whichtranslates to Rebirth (Tentative)—published by Kadokawa in 2021, andopening the school Team BareboAt
with her agency Breathe Arts.

StudioStudioWIT STUDIO

Science SARU

Reason for recommendation

Reason for recommendation

Some of their accomplishments

With South Korea-born Eunyoung
Choi as the Representative Director

include ambitious series such as
Ranking of Kings (2021) and GREATJapan

promotional video for “Candy Caries”(2021), directed by Tomoki Misato,
which was the studio’s first step into
stop motion; and the launch of WIT
Animator Academy, a collaboration
with animation school Sasayuri andNetflix. WIT STUDIO continues to announce ambitious strides, distinctivefrom existing studios.

PRETENDER (2020), the latter of which
was written by live-action screenwriter Ryota Furusawa; production of The
Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún(2019, 2021), directed by independent
artists Yutaro Kubo and Satomi Maiya;

and its Europe-born staff, this international studio has introduced aFrench production style using Adobe
Flash (now Adobe Animate) to theJapanese scene. In 2020 to 2021
alone, they have produced works suchas the TV series Keep Your Hands off

013

日本

Recommended byEizouken! (2020), streaming series andfeature length film Japan Sinks: 2020
(2020), feature length film INU-OH(film festival world premiere 2021),
streaming and TV series The Heike
Story (advanced streaming release2021). Science SARU continues to create unique films, regardless of whatplatform it may be released on, andhave received awards and accolades
from film festivals, both domestic andinternational, for it.

Director

Jonathan Hagard
Reason for recommendation

His VR animation, Replacements(2020), was awarded in the Cristalof the Best VR Work at the Annecy
International Animation Film Festival.
This work received other accolades,such as being nominated in the
Venice VR Expanded section of the
Venice International Film Festival andhas received recognition beyond theanimation industry as an innovative
expression of VR films.

StudioTHINKR
Reason for recommendation

A creative studio that also owns
KAMITSUBAKI STUDIO and FLATSTUDIO. They employ many young
motion graphic artists from the
Niconico and Vocaloid cultural
sphere for stage direction of virtual
artists such as KAF (signed under
KAMITSUBAKI STUDIO). The studiocontinues to work with newcomers,such as the medium length film
Summer Ghost (2021) directed byillustrator loundraw (signed under
FLAT STUDIO).

CGI Compositing (Cinematography)

khara, inc., Digital Team

014

Reason for recommendation

With a unique production style thatdiffers from the industry’s standard
workflow and the creativity andingenuity that can only come fromindependent artists, this department
actualized the visual beauty of thedefinitive Rebuild of Evangelion series.
Together with Project Studio Q, anaffiliate in Fukuoka prefecture, they
are taking on the innovative challengeof finding practical uses for Blender.

Director

Haruo Sotozaki
Reason for recommendation

As the director of the Demon Slayer(2019-present) series, which shattered records in Japanese animationand film history, he is responsible
for the various action sequences anddirection that did not betray the
expectation of the fans of the original
manga series. For that alone, he deserves more recognition for his work
as an artist.

won the award. Some could say that
she is the leading figure in successful
Japanese female artists in recent
years.

Director

Mamoru Hosoda
Reason for recommendation

Educational Institution

He has collaborated with international artists, such as working on
CG character design with Jin Kim, aSouth Korean animator and character
designer at Disney; concept art for a
virtual world with Eric Wong, a British
architect; and working on various

Tokyo University of
the Arts, Graduate
School of Film and New
Media, Department of
Animation

scenes with Cartoon Saloon and its
co-founder Tomm Moore, an Irish
filmmaker. While doing all of these, hecontinues to produce hit films in thedomestic market, breaking his own
personal records.

Reason for recommendation

As the leading force in animation
education in Japan, they’ve produced
many young and mid-career animators that are now gathering attention
around the world. 2020 and 2021 inparticular has brought the international acclaim of Honami Yano andthe success of Tomoki Misato’s Pui Pui
Molcar (2021) which became a phenomenon. Such successful graduates
only further demonstrate the highlevel of their education standards.

Screenwriting

Kazuki Nakashima
Reason for recommendation

He pioneered the recent trend of live
action screenwriters and playwrights
writing original works after he wrote
for renowned works such as Gurren
Lagann (2007) and Promare (2019).
In 2020 and 2021, he worked on thestory structure for BNA: Brand New
Animal (2020) and Back Arrow (2021)
and strengthened his presence by
publishing Kazuki Nakashima and theActor (2020, Kadokawa).

Director

Shoko Hara
Reason for recommendation

Not only was her animated documentary Just a Guy (2020) nominated in
multiple international film festivals,
but it brought home the Grand Prix
for the Short Film section at the
Animafest Zagreb, which was the firsttime in 16 years that a Japanese artist

Director

Yoriko Mizushiri
Reason for recommendation

Her directorial work, Anxious Body
(2021), was not only selected as theBest Non-Narrative Short at the2021 Ottawa International Animation
Festival but was also nominated forthe Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes
Film Festival and has earned herrecognition beyond the animation film
festival circuit. Additionally, her firststep into VR animation, Otawamure(2019) was selected as the Best VR
Project at the 2021 Animafest Zagreb.
With numerous films under her belt,
all with awards and nominations frommajor animation film festivals, she
has established her presence as aninternational artist.

Director

Honami Yano
Reason for recommendation

Her film, A Bite of Bone (2021), hasbeen nominated for multiple animation film festivals. The film earned her
the Grand Prize for Short Animation
at the Ottawa International Animation
Festival, which was the first time insix years that a Japanese filmmaker
had received the award. In addition to
her film work, she discusses “queer
animation,” which is still relatively
new in Japan, in her article titled“The Potential of Queer Animation”
in Queer Cinema Studies (2021, Koyo
Shobo), compiled by Yuka Kanno.

Director

Recommended by

Naoko Yamada

Alex Dudok de Wit

She directed The Heike Story, aclassic novel the late Isao Takahata
dreamed animated adaptation, as
lyrical story with the small group, thedirector’s favorite way of story telling. With the team that is surprising,which comprised of Fumiko Takano
for character design, Reiko Yoshida
for the screenplay, and Science SARU
for the production studio, this series
demonstrated her true ability to
weave a film deeply engraved withher own style, even after leaving thefamiliarity of her old home, Kyoto
Animation.

CGI Compositing (Cinematography)

ufotable Digital Team
Reason for recommendation

With Yuichi Terao, director of compositing, at the helm, the studio has
solidified a distinct as a leader visual
style through works such as Gakuen
Utopia Manabi Straight! (2007), The
Garden of Sinners (2007-2013), Fate/
Zero (2011-2012). The studio has
established a strong visual identity
and led the way in cinematographic
expression in Japanese animation
for the last 15 years. It can be said
that the many years of team building
within the studio has led to the signature visual style of the Demon Slayer
series (2019-present).

Animation Trailers Music Videos

Nobutaka Yoda
Reason for recommendation

In 2020 and 2021 alone, he has directed four animation music videos(mixed with live action), including
Eve’s “Heart Forecast” (2020), Ging
Nang Boyz’s “Shonen Shojo” (2021),
and nine opening/ending sequences,including the ending sequence for
Kakushigoto (2020) and the opening
sequence for Lupin the 3rd Part 6.
He’s worked on numerous trailers
and promotional videos on top of that,
all of which have a certain sense ofartistry to them. He is a filmmakerunlike any other currently working in
the animation industry today.
(Alphabetical order in Japanese)

Journalist / Translator

Directorindustry, his story suggests an alter-

Honami Yano

native model for being an artist, even
if it won’t work for everyone. I also
think Puparia is a striking film, whichplays with framing and eyelines ininteresting ways.

Reason for recommendation

Yano’s A Bite of Bone is a beautiful
short. Its narrative is structured in an
elegantly free-flowing way that captures the way memory operates, andits pointillist technique shows a lot oftechnical and artistic talent. For me,
A Bite of Bone combines the familiar
and the strange: I had never heard of
the funeral rite that gives the film its
name, but I did recognise the Inland
Sea landscapes (which I associatewith my past trips to Hiroshima!). I
can’t wait to see what Yano does next.

CGI

Tatsuya Akagi
Reason for recommendation

Many classic 2D-animated franchises
have been given 3D CG updates over
the years. It’s hard to do this without
losing the charm of the original style;at worst, the results can be hideous.
An exception is Lupin III: The First,
which I think preserves the slapstick
cartoonishness that makes theclassic Lupin series such fun. The
models and animation are faithful
to the franchise – credit to Marza
Animation Planet, which handled a
lot of the production – but so is the
rigging, a crucial part of CG production that often gets overlooked. Akagi,
the film’s rigging supervisor, and his
team clearly paid close attention to
how the characters move in the 2D
instalments.

Director

Shingo Tamagawa
Reason for recommendation

Tamagawa is a former animator at
Sunrise who left the industry, disillusioned by the way he was being madeto work, then spent a year and a half“doing nothing” (his words) before
creating the short film Puparia on
his own. I respect him for taking thisunusual path and speaking publicly
about it. At a time of growing concern
about labour practices in the anime

Director

Kenji Iwaisawa
Reason for recommendation

Like Tamagawa, Iwaisawa doesthings his own way. He made his
debut feature On-Gaku: Our Soundoutside the industry, crowdfunding
part of the budget and working with asmall team of artists, some of whomwere as inexperienced as the punkmusicians in the movie. I hope more
filmmakers can follow his example,
although none will manage to create
something exactly like On-Gaku: this isa unique comedy with a sharp senseof timing and wonderfully deadpan
tone. I found it hilarious.

Director

Mamoru Hosoda
Reason for recommendation

I don’t think Belle is Hosoda’s best
film, but I admire his attempt toaddress an important and very complex social theme – the rise of digital
networking – and the thoughtfulness
with which he does it. Also interestingis the way he decided to collaborate
with artists from abroad, such as the
Korean character designer Jin Kim
and the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon.
I believe he worked with them completely remotely during the pandemic.
This set-up echoes the core messageof Belle: connecting with others virtually can lead to good things.

015

Reason for recommendation｜Feature Films Japan

The “De-Autonomization” of AnimatedFilms and the Era of Worldbuilding
The most significant trend in Japan in 2020-21
with regard to feature-length films is the “de-autonomization” of animated films.
During the 2010s, the box-office was dominated bystand-alone, original works by directors with strong
auteuristic sensibilities, such as Hayao Miyazaki,
Mamoru Hosoda, and Makoto Shinkai [*1]. In contrast,in the box-office rankings for 2020 and 2021, the thingthat stands out is the presence of non-autonomous
works that are not bound by cinematic norms such as
purity as a medium or completeness as a work [*2].
Starting with the smash hit Demon Slayer: Mugen Train(Haruo Sotozaki, 2020), which broke the record for thehighest box-office grossing film of all time in Japan,
and followed by Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
(Hideaki Anno, 2021), and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (Sunghoon
Park, 21), these works have each grossed more than
10 billion yen in box-office revenue. Other similar titles
worth mentioning are Violet Evergarden: The Movie(Taichi Ishidate, 2020), Detective Conan: The Scarlet
Bullet (Chika Nagaoka, 2021), Mobile Suit Gundam:
Hathaway’s Flash (Shuko Murase, 2021), and My Hero
Academia: Heroes Rising (Kenji Nagasaki, 2021) [*3].
The success of these works can be attributed to anumber of factors, including the fact that stay-at-homeorders during the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged
people to watch the original works and TV series thatform the premise for the films, the rise of distribution
platforms that support the diffusion and popularity of
the works among the general public, and the increasing cost of going to movie theaters, which is reflected
in a tendency for consumers to gravitate toward titles
they are already familiar with. This trend of de-autonomization can be seen as a parallel phenomenon to
the rise of “worldbuilding” [*4] such as with the Marvel
Cinematic Universe (MCU) in live-action films.

016

Rebooting TV Manga

Report ｜ Koji Takase
Research cooperation ｜ Akiko Sugawa

In terms of individual trends, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0
Thrice Upon a Time is representative of some of these.
First is the “mixing of tokusatsu and animation”. The
box-office success of the tokusatsu film Shin Godzilla(2016), directed by Hideaki Anno, has encouraged therelease of a number of tokusatsu-inspired works inrecent years. Among these, Thrice Upon a Time wasa work that showed the forefront of the current technological maturity of previsualization and 3DCG and
can be considered as the fruit of the activities of thegeneration born around 1960 who are rebooting theirown culture of TV manga [*5] with anime and tokusatsu. This movement is symbolized by the Hideaki Anno
Exhibition held at the National Art Center, Tokyo in2021.
Also related to this is the revival of mecha anime,
which had been on the wane in the 2010s. Here it isSimilarly, in BL (boys’ love) works, love supremacist style in which the characters seek to be loved is on

worth mentioning Thrice Upon a Time, of course, but

the decline and works such as Twittering Birds NeverFly (Kaori Makita, 2020), which focuses on the way thealso Hathaway’s Flash, which is a reboot of the mecha

characters deal with themselves and their traumas,

anime Gundam in much the same way that Shin
Godzilla is a reboot of Godzilla.

have become hits [*6].

Another important feature when looking back at
the 2020/21 period is that Jump anime (anime basedon the Weekly Shonen Jump publication), which has
had a significant international presence since Dragon
Ball and Naruto, has made major moves. The successof not only Shueisha’s domestic e-book platform
Shonen Jump +, but also the free international manga
distribution service Manga Plus, where translations ofworks are provided for overseas viewers at almost thesame time as their release in Japan, are significant
accomplishments that have been happening in the
background and Shueisha’s momentum shows nosigns of slowing down.

Trends in Animation Films by Auteurs
On the other hand, one of the autonomous animated films that became a big hit in 2020/21 was Belle(Mamoru Hosoda, 2021). This film is based on Beauty
and the Beast and encouraged the use of international
talent including Jin Kim, a Korean animator andcharacter designer who worked for Disney, for the
CG character design; the British architect Eric Wongfor the concept art for the film’s virtual world, andthe Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, led by Tom
Moore, for some scenes.
Also in the independent scene, there were anumber of feature-length films such as On-Gaku: Our
Sound (Kenji Iwaisawa, 2020) and Dozens of Norths(Koji Yamamura, 2021), which were nominated for andwon awards at film festivals in Japan and abroad, atrend that cannot be overlooked when considering
animation films in the 2020s.

Notes
*1
In the feature-length animation scene of the 2010s, the rise ofanimated film series such as the One Piece and Doraemon series, led
by the Detective Conan series, which has already established itself asa nationally popular anime, was a significant trend. However, in thissection, I will focus on the major trends of 2020-21.
*2For example, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is a pure sequel to the
TV anime Demon Slayer, which is based on the popular manga seriesin Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha). Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon aTime is the final part of a four-part Rebuild of Evangelion series, which
is based on the original 1995 TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion. And
Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash is based on the premise of Mobile
Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988), a continuation of the Mobile
Suit Zeta Gundam (1985-86) that followed Mobile Suit Gundam (1979).
*3: See the 2021 National Film Report published by the Motion Picture
Producers Association of Japan: http://www.eiren.org/toukei/img/
eiren_kosyu/data_2021.pdf (accessed July 1, 2022). In the box-officerevenue ranking of Japanese films in 2021, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice
Upon a Time, Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet, and Belle occupied the
top three positions, meanwhile live-action films based on manga camein fifth and sixth, and 10 out of the top 20 works overall were animation
films.
*4
A method of creation popularized after Star Wars (1977), in which
a global worldview is established at the outset and individual works are
created based on that worldview. Eiji Otsuka pioneered the discussionof Japanese subculture abroad as “story consumption” (or “worldview
consumption” as described by Hiroki Azuma).
*5
In the 1960s, when Astro Boy (1963-66) and Ultra Q (1966) began
to be broadcast, children’s TV programs such as animated TV shows,
tokusatsu, and puppet shows were generally called “TV manga”, incontrast to the “manga films” shown in theaters, yet without any clear
distinction between these.
*6
I interviewed Akiko Sugawa, an animation scholar, about feature-length films with a female target audience and obtained a great
deal of insights from her. Sugawa pointed out that it has become
increasingly difficult to clearly distinguish “female-oriented” content
since the 2000s. The next step in this process is to take a more critical
viewpoint based on the assumption that there is a broadening audiencethat enjoys a cross section of genres, including the yuri and BL genres.

In recent years, there has been an increasing
number of works that support the empowerment of
women, in which the main character or main target
are women, and which present alternative ways oflife that are not limited to marriage and love. Looking
for Magical Doremi (Junichi Sato/Haruka Kamatani,2020), which won the Animation Film Award at the75th Mainichi Film Awards, straightforwardly depicts
women who cannot live freely in love and work throughthe viewpoints of characters who were children when
the Ojamajo Doremi anime series (1999-2003) was
broadcast.

017

Empowering Women to Live Life on
Their Own Terms

｜

Series/Streaming JapanThe Challenge to Revive the Tokusatsu
and Mecha Anime Genres and theDevelopment of New 3DCG Animation
Techniques
In Japan, trends in TV series and feature-length
theatrical films are in principle linked to each other at
least in part because the two domains share the same
directors, staff, studios, and so on [*1]. For this reason,
many of the trends in feature-length films can also berecognized in (and often precede) TV series.
In 2020-21, the series SSSS.Dynazenon (Akira
Amemiya, 2021), based on the tokusatsu drama
Gridman the Hyper Agent (1993-94); as well as Godzilla
Singular Point (Atsushi Takahashi, 2021), part of theGodzilla series, which is representative of the tokusatu
genre; were hot topics in line with the current trends
in feature films, such as the “mixing of tokusatsu andanimation” and the “revival of mecha anime”.
It is also worth mentioning here that 3DCG animation, which is utilized in these works, has entered into
a new phase since 2013-14 [*2]. While SSSS. Dynazenon(CG production: Graphinica), Godzilla Singular Point (CGproduction: Orange), and Dorohedoro (CG production:
Mappa, 2020) pursued ambitious artistic expression,
such as exploring the combination of drawing and
3DCG and developing texture; Polygon Pictures,
Sanzigen, and Sola Digital Arts have established asystem of producing at least one new series a year. A
new era of the mass production of CG animation has
arrived. Along with the increasing production of 3DCG
animation, the emergence of animation directors fromCG studios, which has long been regarded as an issue,
is another trend that cannot be ignored [*3].

018

The Polarization of Major andIndependent Sales

Report ｜ Koji Takase
Research cooperation ｜ Akiko Sugawa

The era of Jump anime (anime that first appearedin the publication Weekly Shonen Jump) is a trend thatwas first seen in TV series and later in feature-lengthfilms. And while package sales such as Blu-ray andDVDs have become less effective as an indicator of
popularity since the rise of online streaming, both
Demon Slayer (Haruo Sotozaki, 2019) and Jujutsu
Kaisen (Park Sunghoo, 2020-21) had achieved a significant presence even before their theatrical versions
were released. The subsequent adaptations of Demon
Slayer such as Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2021) and
Demon Slayer: Yukaku Hen (2021-22), have also managed to maintain their popularity.
However, the most significant title of 2021 in termsof TV series sales is Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season
2 (Kei Oikawa, 2021) [*4]. Starting with this work, which
set a new record for sales, the high sales of works
related to social video games, especially the Zombie

Princess Connect! Re:Dive series (Takaomi Kanasaki,
2020/22) and other TV series related to Cygames [*5]have represented sales trends in recent years.
The smash hits of the puppet animation Pui
Pui Molcar (Tomoki Misato, 2021) and Odd Taxi (Baku
Kinoshita, 2021), planned and produced by P.I.C.S.
(co-produced by OLM), were also interesting phenomena from 2021. Along with huge IP holders such
as Jump and social gaming companies, artists andstudios from outside the existing animation industry
have also been making headlines in 2021, and this is
one of the symbolic examples of the liquefaction ofcommercial and independent anime that has been so
prominent in the Japanese animation scene in recent
years.
On the other hand, in the film festival scene, there
are still few opportunities for series works to be evaluated. However, under such circumstances, Masaaki
Yuasa’s TV anime Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020)
won the Grand Prize in the Animation Division of the24th Japan Media Arts Festival, and his online streaming series Japan Sinks: 2020 (2020) won the JuryAward in the TV Series Division at the 45th Annecy
International Animation Film Festival 2021. Yuasa isalso internationally well known as a director who isambitiously working on series in addition to directing
feature-length films [*6].

Expanding Character Diversity inChildren’s Anime
In recent years, gender-neutral messages havebecome more foregrounded not only in feature-lengthfilms but also in the realm of children’s anime, which
are often long running series. Idol anime such as thePretty series (2011-) and the Aikatsu! series (2012-),have shown awareness regarding character diversity
since the beginning, with tomboy characters being included in the cast and idol characters being portrayedwithout being restricted by age or looks. On the other
hand, in the Pretty Cure series (2004-), there havebeen many expressions based on traditional gender
perspectives, such as the use of magical motifs tosymbolize girlhood. In recent years, however, a trend
has emerged in the Pretty Cure series in which there
is a more varied range of main characters who arechosen regardless of gender or race. These include
a young male Pretty Cure in Hug! Pretty Cure (Junichi
Sato, Akifumi Zako, 2018-19), a humanoid alien PrettyCure in Star Twinkle Pretty Cure (Hiroaki Miyamoto,19-20) and a mermaid Pretty Cure in Tropical-Rouge!
Pretty Cure (Yutaka Tsuchida, 2021-22) [*7].

Notes
*1
Although TV series may either precede feature-length theatricalfilms or follow up on hit films, the inability to draw a line between andclearly separate the two domains is one of the major characteristics ofJapanese animation, commonly known as “anime”.
*2
One of the epochal developments that occurred around the2013-14 period was the spread of character expression using cell-style
3DCG (cell-look 3DCG). Arpeggio of Blue Steel - Ars Nova (CG production:
Sanzigen, 2013), Knights of Sidonia (CG production: Polygon Pictures,2014), and Expelled from Paradise (CG production: Graphinica, 2014) arerepresentative examples of this technique. The use of cell-style 3DCG
in the models of anthropomorphic characters such as vessels, clones,
and other non-human characters was widely accepted by anime fans,
who had previously tended to show resistance to 3DCG characters.
*3
Studio Ghibli’s first foray into 3DCG animation Earwig and the
Witch (Goro Miyazaki, 2020) is also significant in terms of anime history.
In addition, I received many insights into the historical transition of CG/
VFX scenes from Koichi Noguchi of Toei Animation whom I interviewed
for the Staff section.
*4
Although there are pros and cons to the sales boost from enclosed extras, this work has gained a lot of fans as a stand-alone work.
See: Oricon chart for the first half of 2021: Uma Musume BD box set
ranked first among anime video works as an exceptionally large hit,https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2198384/ (Accessed July 1, 2022).
*5
In addition to the three series mentioned in the main text,
Cygames also has a number of other in-house productions that havesold well and received favorable reviews including the Rage of Bahamut
series (Keiichi Sato, 2014/17), the Granblue Fantasy: The Animation series(Yuki Ito/Yui Umemoto, 2017/19), and more.
*6
In the past, there were many filmmakers who shifted their focus
to animation films after their success with feature-length films, but
one director who is currently in a similar position is Ayumu Watanabe.
Watanabe gained rapid international attention with his work Childrenof the Sea (2019), produced at Studio 4°C. In 2020-21, Watanabe continued to receive domestic and international acclaim for his featurefilm Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (2021), while also serving as general
director for the TV series Komi Can’t Communicate (2021-22). Like Yuasa,
Watanabe continues to be active across both formats.
*7
I interviewed animation scholar Akiko Sugawa as part of the
Feature-Length Films section and obtained a great deal of insightsfrom her about anime series with a female target audience. In addition,
regarding the roles of female characters, Sugawa pointed out that inrecent Jump anime series such as The Promised Neverland (Mamoru
Kobe, 2019/21), Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen, there are relationships between female and male characters that are not a love interest,
and roles in which female characters do not play a supporting role but
rather take an equal position to the male characters.

019

Land Saga series (Munehisa Sakai, 2018/21) and｜

Short Films Japan

A stronger presence of animateddocumentaries and female animators
A list of animations in the short film category
in 2020 and 2021 suggests a substantial presenceof animated documentaries. Having emerged in the
mid-2000s, more animated documentary films havebeen produced in recent years. Notably, in 2020 and
2021, many films were created in relation to the global
pandemic of Covid-19 and restrictions [*1].
The stronger presence of animated documentaries can also be seen in animation film festivals. In
addition, a list of awarded or nominated works in shortfilm categories at major film festivals in 2020 and 2021
indicates that Japanese female animators performed
exceptionally well.
For example, Shoko Hara, based in Germany,was nominated for awards at several film festivals,
including the four major international animation
film festivals, for her animated documentary Justa Guy (2020), which won the Grand Prix in the shortfilms category at the World Festival of AnimatedFilm – Animafest Zagreb. It was the first time since Koji
Yamamura’s Mt. Head (2002) in 2004 that a Japanesecreator won the Grand Prix.
Tokyo University of the Arts graduates Honami
Yano was also nominated at various animation film
festivals in Japan and overseas, including the Annecy
International Film Festival, for her pointillist-styleanimated documentary A Bite of Bone (2021). It won
the Grand Prize for Short Animation at the Ottawa
International Animation Festival. This was also thefirst time since Sarina Nihei’s Small People with Hats
won the Grand Prix in 2015.
Although it is not an animated documentary,

020

Yoriko Mizushiri’s Anxious Body (2021) also made anotable achievement. It was selected for screening
in the Directors’ Fortnight (short and medium-lengthfilms section) of the Cannes Film Festival and won theBest Non-Narrative award at the Ottawa International
Animation Festival. Several works of Mizushiri havebeen praised at the film festivals in 2020 and 2021,
including her VR work Otawamure (2019), which won
the Best VR Project at the World Festival of AnimatedFilm – Animafest Zagreb, establishing Mizushiri’s
position as a world-class animator.
Other notable works that were nominated at various film festivals include Sawako Kabuki’s Kuricorder
Quartet / Southpaw MV (2019), Yoko Yuki’s Bonnou
Shimizu -ShalaBonBon MV (2019), and Sarina Nihei’s
Polka-Dot Boy (2020), which proved Japanese female
animators’ strong performances during the past two
years [*2].

Report ｜ Daisuke Tanaka
Research Collaborator ｜ Mitsuko Okamoto

A Bite of Bone was produced by Au Praxinoscope,a private gallery of the animation filmmaker Koji
Yamamura, and Anxious Body by New Deer, ananimation that shows how a fictional city modeled
after Jakarta gradually changes its views. This work
took the film festivals by storm. It was nominated at
the Venice Film Festival, received the Cristal for theBest VR Work at the Annecy International Animation
Film Festival, and was awarded the jury’s special
mention in the VR category at the Ottawa International

independent animation distributor [*3]. Both Au

Animation Film Festival.

Praxinoscope and New Deer have already announced

Other Japanese animators who showed theirpresence in the VR division include Kazuki Yuharathat they have more works in progress and will continue actively supporting individual animators.

with his Shugo Tokumaru - Canaria MV (2020), which

In Japan, there has historically been a lack ofsystem of organizational support for producing short

was nominated for the VR category at the Ottawa
International Animation Film Festival, and previously

animation films that can be commended at film festivals, relying mainly on independent production and on

mentioned Yoriko Mizushiri with her Otawamure.

educational institutions. However, this trend seems to
be changing [*4].
The Girl from the Other Side (2019), an OAD by
Yutaro Kubo and Satomi Maiya, is a good example.
WIT STUDIO, one of the leading animation production
companies, appointed these animators, who are
graduates of the Tokyo University of the Arts, as directors to produce the film. In 2020, the film received
worldwide acclaims and was nominated at the Ottawa
International Animation Film Festival and the Stuttgart
International Festival of Animated Film.

Film festivals held online due to thepandemic, and Japanese animators inthe VR film category
In 2020 and 2021, film festivals quickly shifted
online due to the global pandemic of Covid-19. As aresult, VR (virtual reality) showed a strong presencein film festivals.
Since the mid-2010s, many film festivals haveopened their doors to VR films and offered programsin VR. However, participants were expected to experience them on-site at the festivals. In 2020 and
2021, film festivals had to find their way online due tothe pandemic, and the VR section was no exception.
Prestigious festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival
and the Venice Film Festival also introduced VR programs that can be experienced on VR platforms online.
Among the three major international film festivals, the Venice Film Festival was the earliest to
introduce a competition for VR films [*5]. Although
Japanese films did not see nominations until 2018,several works have been nominated yearly since 2019.
This proves that Japanese VR films have been steadily
moving onto higher levels.
Keisuke Itoh, a CG and VR artist, was nominatedfor two consecutive years, with his Beat (2020) at the77th Festival and Clap (2021) at the 78th [*6], for the
first time for a Japanese artist in the VR category.
Jonathan Hagard’s Replacements (2020) is a VR

Notes
*1
However, if confined to nominated films at the film festivals,
there are not many animations based on the Covid-19 pandemic andrestrictions. Moreover, the films on such topics were of rough quality, if
produced at all, possibly because animation production is a time-consuming task and incorporating current issues requires completing workin a short time span. This is probably why these topics were rarely
represented at film festivals. More polished works would appear inupcoming years.
*2
Our research collaborator Mitsuko Okamoto, a producer and aprofessor at Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and
New Media, remarked that female artists performed exceptionally wellin 2020 and 2021 while emphasizing they had been producing steadyresults in the short animation film category in the past years.
*3
New Deer also has produced My Exercise (2020) by Atsushi Wada,
which was highly acclaimed worldwide and received the Special Awardat the discretion of the Short Film Jury at the World Festival of AnimatedFilm – Animafest Zagreb.
*4
The organizations that have continuously supported the production of short animation films that would be commended at the film
festivals include NHK and CALF. NHK has produced short animations
to elaborate on individual artists’ creativity in programs such as theeducational TECHNE (since 2012). CALF (since 2010) is an animation
production company headed by the animator Kei Oyama. In 2020 and
2021, more organizations emerged to follow NHK and CALF all at once.
Mitsuko Okamoto, who also acts as a producer of TECHNE, remarked
that while organizational support to produce short animation films isstill insufficient, the years 2020 and 2021 have seen a favorable trend.
*5
The Venice Film Festival has already announced that it willcontinue to show VR programs regardless of whether the festival isheld offline or online. The Venice Film Festival’s official site “SELECTIONCOMPLETE FOR THE WORKS OF VENICE VR EXPANDED” https://www.
labiennale.org/en/news/selection-complete-works-venice-vr-expanded-0 (Accessed: on July 1, 2022).
*6
Although it was not selected for a competition, Feather (2019) was
also screened at the 76th Festival, meaning it was screened for threeconsecutive years.

021

A sign of more domestic production
companies supporting short animation films

Festival and Award

Daisuke Tanaka

Scope of Survey
This document is a list of nominees [*1] and winners by filmmaker for Japanese “feature films,” “series,” and “shortfilms” at film festivals, and winners at awards festivals. The “film festivals” surveyed included those accredited by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and those were cooperated with ASIFA, as well as emerging animation
film festivals and media art festivals. The producer of Hiroshima Animation Season and the research team selected
the awards based on their influence on the animation industry from among international awards for film, TV anddistribution programs, domestic and international awards specializing in animation, and film awards in Japan. The
survey covered film festivals and awards whose results were announced between January 1, 2020 and December 31,
2021 [*2].
Notes*1
In the list, “total nominations” are listed by auteur and “nominations” are listed by film.
*2

For example, film festivals and awards that announced nominations in 2019 and award results in 2020 are counted as 2020.

Festival 
Animac International Animation Film Festival
Animateka International Animation Festival
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Annecy International Animation Film Festival
Inide-AniFest

Awards 
Academy Awards
Annie Awards
British Academy Film Awards
The Kinema Junpo magazine Top-ten
Crunchyroll Anime Awards

Venice International Film Festival
The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen
Ottawa International Animation Festival
Cannes International Film Festival
GLAS Animation Festival
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival
The World Festival of Animated Film Animafest Zagreb
Sundance Film Festival
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH Asia
Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film
Short Shorts Film Festival
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival
Tokyo Anime Award Festival
International Animation Festival Hiroshima
Fantoche International Animation Festival
Bucheon International Animation Festival

Golden Globe Awards
The Cesar Awards
Tokyo Anime Award Festival (Anime of the Year)
Japan Academy Film Prize
The Newtype magazine Anime Awards
Critics’ Choice Movie Awards
Blue Ribbon Awards
Hochi Film Awards
Mainichi Film Awards

Prix Ars Electronica
Japan Media Arts Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
Melbourne International Film Festival
European Media Art Festival
International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated

022

Film
London International Animation Festival

Feature Films ｜ Nomination at Film Festivals
Year of release

Nominations

Total
nominations

Science SARU

2019

2

4

Japan

Science SARU

2021

2

Children of the Sea

Japan

STUDIO4°C

2019

2

Gyoko no Nikuko-chan

Japan

STUDIO4°C

2021

2

Eiji Han Shimizu

True North

Japan,
Indonesia

Studio Raboon,
Sumimasem Pte

2020

3

3

Hiroyuki Imaishi

PROMAREJapan

TRIGGER

2019

2

2

Kenji Iwaisawa

On-Gaku: Our Sound

Japan

ROCK’N ROLL
MOUTAIN

2019

2

2

Kotaro Tamura

Josee to Tora to Sakanatachi

Japan

bones

2020

2

2

Tetsuro Araki

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress:
The Battle of UnatoJapan

WIT STUDIO

2019

1

1

Masashi Ando,
Masayuki Miyaji

The Deer KingJapan

Production I.G

2020

1

1

Taichi Ishidate

Violet Evergarden: The Movie

Japan

Kyoto Animation

2020

1

1

Junichi Sato,
Tomotaka Shibayama

A Whisker AwayJapan

STUDIO COLORIDO

2020

1

1

Naoyoshi Shiotani

PSYCHO-PASS 3 FIRST INSPECTOR

Japan

Production I.G

2020

1

1

Makoto Shinkai

Weathering With You

Japan

Comix Wave Films

2019

1

1

Tatsuyuki Nagai

Her Blue Sk

Japan

CloverWorks

2019

1

1

Shojiro Nishimi,
Guillaume “Run” Renard

Mutafukaz

Japan,
FranceSTUDIO4°C

2017

1

1

Yuta Murano

7 Days WarJapan

AJIADO2019

1

1

Junichi Fujisaku(General Director)

DEEMO Memorial KeysJapan

SIGNAL.MD,
Production I.G

2021

1

1

Yusuke Hirota

Poupelle of Chimney Town

Japan

STUDIO4°C

2020

1

1

Mamoru Hosoda

Belle

Japan

CHIZU

2021

1

1

Koji Yamamura

Dozens of Norths

Japan,
FranceYamamura Animation,
Miyu Productions

2021

1

1

Takayuki Hirao

Pompo: The Cinephile

Japan

CLAP

2021

1

1

Title

Country

Production

Masaaki Yuasa

Ride Your WaveJapan

INU-OH

Ayumu Watanabe

4023

DirectorFeature Films ｜ Awards at Film Festivals
Director

Title

Prize

Taichi Ishidate

Violet Evergarden: The Movie

Japan Media Arts FestivalAnimation Division Excellence Award (2021)

Hiroyuki Imaishi

PROMARE

Bucheon International Animation FestivalAudience Prize (2020)

Kenji Iwaisawa

OnGaku: Our Sound

Annecy International Animation Film FestivalBest Original Music Award for featurefilms (2020), Japan Media Arts FestivalEntertainment Division Grand Prize (2021)

Junichi Sato,
Tomotaka Shibayama

A Whisker Away

Japan Media Arts FestivalAnimation Division Excellence Award (2021)

Koji Yamamura

Dozens of Norths

New Chitose Airport International Animation FestivalSpecial Jury Award for the
Feature Films (2021)

Masaaki Yuasa

INU-OH

Bucheon International Animation FestivalInternational Competition Feature Film
Special Distinction Prize

Ayumu WatanabeChildren of the Sea

Japan Media Arts FestivalAnimation Division Grand Prize (2020), Bucheon
International Animation FestivalInternational Competition Feature Film (2020)

Feature Films ｜ Award Winners
Award

Director

Title

Country

Production

Tokyo Anime Award
Festival (Anime of theYear)

Makoto Shinkai

Weathering With You

Japan

Comix Wave Films

2019

Best Film Feature Film
(2020)

Joji Furuta

Uta no Prince Sama theMovi: Maji Lave Kigdom

Japan

A1 Pictures

2019

Best FilmAnime Fan Award(2020)Taichi Ishidate

Violet Evergarden: The
Movie

Japan

Kyoto Animation

2020

Best FilmFeature Film
(2021)

Makoto Shinkai

Weathering With You

Japan

Comix Wave Films

2019

Best Animation Film Prize(2020)

Haruo Sotozaki

Demon Slayer the Movie:
Mugen TrainJapan

ufotable

2020

Best Animation Film Prize(2021)

Haruo Sotozaki

Demon Slayer the Movie:
Mugen TrainJapan

ufotable

2020

Anime Film Award (2020)

Ayumu Watanabe Gyoko no Nikukochan

Japan

STUDIO4°C

2021

Anime Film Award (2021)

Ayumu Watanabe Children of the Sea

Japan

STUDIO4°C

2019

Animation Film Award(2020)

Junichi Sato,
Looking for Magical Doremi Japan
Haruka Kamatani

Toei Animation

2020

Animation Film Award(2021)

Kenji Iwaisawa

Japan

ROCK’N ROLL
MOUTAIN

2019

Noburo Ofuji Award (2021)

KonoSuba: God’s Blessing
Takaomi Kanasaki on this Wonderful World!
Legend of Crimson

Japan

J.C.STAFF

2019

Best Film Feature Film firstplace (2020)

Demon Slayer the Movie:
Mugen TrainJapan

ufotable

2020

Best Film Feature Film firstplace (2021)

Japan Academy Film
Prize

Hochi Film Awards

Mainichi Film Awards

024

The Newtype magazine Anime Awards

Haruo Sotozaki

OnGaku: Our Sound

Year of release Prize

Series ｜ Nomination at Film Festivals
Year of release

Nominations

Total
nominations

-

2020

3

3

Japan

Science SARU

2020

2

3

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Japan

Science SARU

2020

1

Hiroyuki Mizoguchi

Fuwa Fuwa Hour: PuiPui & MuuMuu“Fushigi na Tane”

Japan

Studio Placebo

2019

2

2

Akira Amemiya

SSSS.GRIDMANJapan

TRIGGER

2018

1

1

Yutaro Sawada,
Taketo Shinkai

B RAPPERS STREETJapan

Pie in the sky

2019

1

1

Taketo Shinkai

Aware! Meisaku-Kun

Japan

Pie in the sky

2016-

1

1

Hiroshi Hamasaki

Blade of the Immortal

Japan

LIDENFILMS

2019

1

1

Kazuhiro Furuhashi

DOROROJapan

MAPPA,TEZUKA PRODUCTIONS

2019

1

1

Shinichi Matsumi

BEASTARSJapan

Orange2019

1

1

Ai Yoshimura

Case File nº221: KabukichoJapan

Production I.G

2019

1

1

Director

Title

Country

Production

Mari Miyazawa

Konigiri-kun “Concert”

Japan

Masaaki Yuasa

Japan Sinks: 2020

Series ｜ Awards at Film Festivals
Director

Title

Prize

Masaaki Yuasa

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Japan Media Arts FestivalAnimation Division Grand Prize (2021)

Japan Sinks: 2020

Annecy International Animation Film Festival Jury Award for a TV Series (2021)

Series ｜ Award Winners
Director

Title

Country

Production

Crunchyroll
Anime Awards

Haruo Sotozaki

Demon SlayerJapanufotable

2019

ANIME OF THE YEAR
WINNER (2020)

Sunghoo Park

Jujutsu Kaisen

Japan

MAPPA

2020

ANIME OF THE YEAR
WINNER (2021)

Haruo Sotozaki

Demon SlayerJapanufotable

2019

Best Film TV Series (2020)

Masaaki Yuasa

Keep Your Hands Off
Eizouken!

Japan

Science SARU

2020

Best Film TV Series (2021)

Makoto Bessho

IDOLiSH7: Second BEAT!

Japan

TROYCA

2021

Best Film Anime Fan Award(2021)

MamornHatakeyama

Kaguya-sama: Love Is WarJapan

A-1 Pictures

2019

Best Film TV Series firstplace (2020)

Sunghoo Park

Jujutsu Kaisen

Japan

MAPPA

2020

Best Film TV Series firstplace (2021)

Tokyo Anime Award
Festival (Anime of theYear)

The Newtype magazine Anime Awards

Year of release Prize

025

Award

Short Films ｜ Nomination at Film Festivals
Director

Title

Country

Year of release

Nominations

Total
nominations

Shoko Hara

Just a Guy

Germany

2020

12

12

Yoriko Mizushiri

Anxious Body

Japan, France

2021

8

11

Otawamure

Japan

2019

1

Animafest Zagreb 2020 Festival Trailer

Croatia

2020

1

My Luxury Night

Japan

2019

1

My Exercise

Japan

2020

10

Autumn

Japan

2017

1

Polka-Dot Boy

France2020

6Photay - Villain

Japan, USA

2021

1

Jonathan Hagard

Replacements (Penggantian)Germany,ndonesia, Japan

2020

6

6

Isaku Kaneko

The Balloon Catcher

Japan

2020

4

5

LOCOMOTOR

Japan

2019

1

Gon, The Little Fox

Japan

2019

4

Pukklapottas and Hors in the Forest

Japan

2021

1

Honami Yano

Honekami (A Bite of Bone)

Japan

2021

5

5

Koji Yamamura

Dreams Into Drawing

Japan

2019

4

5

Polar Bear Bears Boredom

Japan

2021

1

Kazuki Yuhara

Canaria

Japan

2020

5

5

Sawako Kabuki

Kuricorder Quartet - Southpaw

Japan

2019

3

4

1980YEN - Takoyaki Story

Japan

2018

1

Difference and Repetition and Coffee

Japan

2020

3

Still Life

Japan

2021

1

Half of an AppleJapan, China

2020

3

Pieces of April

Japan, China

2019

1

Shunsaku Hayashi

Leaking Life

Japan

2019

4

4

Hirotoshi Iwasaki

On Time Off Time

Japan

2020

3

3

Yutaro Kubo, Satomi Maiya

The Girl from the Other Side

Japan

2019

3

3

Momoka Furukawahara

Kata no Ato

Japan

2020

3

3

Patrick Smith, Kaori Ishida

Beyond Noh

USA, Japan

2020

3

3

Yoko Yuki

Shimizu Bonnou - ShalaBonBon

Japan

2019

3

3

Keisuke Itoh

BEAT

Japan

2020

1

2

Clap

Japan

2021

1

Mizuki Ito

Takano Intersection

Japan

2021

2

2

Keita Onishi

Eiichi Otaki - Rock ’N’ Roll March

Japan

2019

1

2

14 Canons, BWV 1078

Japan

2019

1

Mizuki Kiyama

Kujiranoyu

Japan

2019

2

2

Tetsuro Kodama

PIANOMAN

Japan

2020

2

2

Hiroshi Seo

Anipulatio

Japan

2020

2

2

Akihito Nonoue

Above the Brain

Japan

2019

1

2

Above the Brain 2

Japan

2021

1

Atsushi Wada

Sarina Nihei

Takeshi Yashiro

Masa Kudo

026

Xiaolin Zhou

11

7

5

4

4

Director

Title

Country

Year of release

Nominations

Total
nominations

HeihachiKitsune-Kansekai

Japan

2018

2

2

Shin Hosokawa

Dino!

Japan

2020

2

2

Yuta Masuda

Dreaming Away

Japan

2019

1

2

Long Live the Cat

Japan

2020

1

Minori Matsuoka

Turtle’s Stroll

Japan

2019

2

2

Aiko Mikami

Waves and Shapes

Japan

2020

1

2

Composition

Japan

2021

1

Mirai Mizue

Maison book girl - Kanashimi no Kodomotachi

Japan

2020

2

2

Yuta Miyoshi

Oasis

Japan, Germany

2019

2

2

Shuqin Li

So I Picked Up the WormJapan, China

2020

2

2

Nianze Li

Strawberry Candy

Japan

2020

2

2

Onesal Studio

Visual ASMR

Japan

2020

2

2

Hiroaki Higashi

Ghost in the Shell: Ghost Chaser

Japan

2018

1

1

Masanao Kawajiri

A Japanese Boy Who Draws

Japan

2018

1

1

In addition to the above, 90 directors nominated for only one works.

Short Films ｜ Awards at Film Festivals
Director

Title

Prize

Masanao Kawajiri

A Japanese Boy Who Draws

Japan Media Arts Festival Animation Division Excellence Award (2021)

Isaku Kaneko

The Balloon Catcher

Tokyo Anime Award Festival Best Student Film (2021)

Mizuki Kiyama

Kujiranoyu

Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film Winner Lotte Reiniger Promotion Award (2020)

Jonathan Hagard

Replacements (Penggantian)Annecy International Animation Film Festival Cristal for the Best VR Work (2021), The
World Festival of Animated Film Animafest Zagreb Special mention at the discretion of the
VR Animation Competition Jury (2021), Japan Media Arts Festival Entertainment Division
Excellence Award (2021), New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival Japan GrandPrix (2021)

Sarina Nihei

Polka-Dot Boy

Bucheon International Animation Festival Special Distinction Prize (2020)

Shoko Hara

Just a Guy

The World Festival of Animated Film Animafest Zagreb Grand Prix-Best short film (2020)

Hiroaki Higashi

Ghost in the Shell: Ghost Chaser Bucheon International Animation Festival VR Special Prize (2020)

Yoriko Mizushiri

Otawamure

The World Festival of Animated Film Animafest Zagreb Best VR Project (2020)

Anxious Body

Ottawa International Animation Festival Best Non-Narrative (2021),
Fantoche International Animation Festival Best Sound (2021),
London International Animation Festival Best Sound Award & Audience Voting (2021)

Takeshi YashiroGon, The Little Fox

Japan Media Arts Festival Animation Division Excellence Award (2021),
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival Audience Award (2020)

Honami Yano

Honekami (A Bite of Bone)

Ottawa International Animation Festival Grand Prize for Short Animation (2021), InideAniFest Asia Road Audience Choice (2021), New Chitose Airport International Animation
Festival Special Jury Award the Short Films (2021)

Atsushi WadaMy Exercise

The World Festival of Animated Film Animafest Zagreb Special Award at the discretion of the
Short Film Jury (2021).

Award

Director

Title

Country

Mainichi Film Awards

Masanao Kawajiri

A Japanese Boy Who Draws

Japan

Year of release Prize

2018

Noburo Ofuji Award (2020)027

Short Films ｜ Award Winners

｜Online Japan

In recent years, there has been a growing perception of the internet as a marginal space wheretraditional boundaries in animation such as individual/group production and art/entertainment are blurredor even dissolved. On the other hand, the scene is sovast and amorphous that one cannot take in everything
at once. For this article, we asked a range of specialists with different areas of expertise to take part in asurvey, in the hope that at least a broad outline of thecurrent situation would emerge.
We asked the respondents to select three or four
works produced in Japan or by Japanese creatorsthat were released online in 2020 or 2021 and which
represent the current scene, based on their own specialist perspectives. We also asked them to provide an
explanation of their choices in 300 words or fewer.

Kensuke Ono
representing GIFMAGAZINE
yAG7hp1EEloNDxw - “Light and Trees” (2020)
Taro Oono - “Stop the bear being forced by somebody
to do the Comaneci pose! (GIF game)” (2020)
HattoriGraphics - “City of human” (2020)

I selected three of the prizewinners from theGIFs
2020. Every year, theGIFs receives submissions fromcreators in a variety of different countries. The COVID19 crisis changed our sense of what is normal. As aresult, we can also see various changes in the motifs
used to express ideas. More creators made works
using masks as a motif, or portrayed humanity as
connected even when physically separated. Moreover,the growth of social media led to a rise in representations only possible online, including the developmentof interactive animations such as “GIF games” where
tapping the image causes it to stop. There were also
more works that one can enjoy displaying, due tothe spread of things like digital signage. I find that in
response to developments in both devices and media,
online animation is continuing to evolve to entertain
all viewers.

Takashi Ohashi
Motion designer, movie director
OTP (teaser movie for 100 Motion Designers in Japan2021) (2021)
Shun Yamaguchi - “META-morphose” (2021)

028

Suguru Asakura - Video production for the “declarationof war” for KAF’s live show “Fukakai (Sai)” (among
other production for the live show) (2020)

Report ｜ Koji Takase

OTP: This used the unique production method ofcreating motion graphics in Cinema4D, printing out
every frame using a lithograph, and then scanningthem again. The deterioration of the visual data fitted
well with the recent popularity of lo-fi culture. Thisexperiment also offers a counter to the idea that anyone can recreate the same representation.
Yamaguchi: An art installation-style music video based

flawless, intricate animation breezes past all else inaround the theme of transforming computer graphics
and related communication methods. The output

Yusuke Shonoformat for low-bit animation is cathode ray tube television, while for low-polygon games, the screen ratio
is 4:3, and the outputs for high-end computer graphics
and emojis are HD monitors and smartphones.
KAF: Many music producers for virtual artists emerged
from the cultural sphere of Nico Nico Douga and
Hatsune Miku. A number of young motion designers

the commercial animation field.

100 Motion Designers in Japan, MASSAGE MAGAZINEJACKSON kaki – “DIO C’E’” at Ultrastudio.sexy (2020)
Asako Fujikura - music video for “Umetatechi” byermhoi (2021)
Densuke28 - music video for “M” by OKAMOTO’S (2021)

There is no clearly defined “online” category in visualand graphic designers adroitly combined this withexpression, but online culture has had a profoundeffect. The expansion of smartphones and social

kinetic typography.

media, as well as the arrival of a range of services
like YouTube, has brought about a whole new cycle ofHead of Prix Ars Electronica
Daito Manabe and Kenichiro Shimizu - music video for“Terminal Slam” by Squarepusher (2020)
Tomo Kihara – “TheirTube” (2021)
MIKIKO, ELEVENPLAY, Daito Manabe, Motoi Ishibashi,
Rhizomatiks, Takayuki Fujimoto, evala - Digest of
ELEVENPLAY x Rhizomatiks “border 2021” (2021)

I selected from recent prizewinners of the Prix Ars
Electronica and STARTS Prize sponsored by Ars
Electronica. Each of these artists expressed their own
idea of “reality”, and in particular they showed that
there is no one shared reality for everyone. In today’s
world where there are so many methods of disseminating and editing information, as well as sources andmedia forms, we must develop an instinct to questionthat which seems instinctual according to our own
realities.

Kenichi Kutsuna
Animator and director
KOMUGIKO2000 - music video for “Fukakumei zenya”
by NEE (2020)
Shingo Tamagawa – “Puparia” (2020)
Glens sou - music video for “Aisai” by Eve (2021)

I selected works by three independent animatorsconnected to the field of commercial animation.
KOMUGIKO2000’s use of motifs and eye for editing has
continued since working with Waboku, while the action
scenes stand out and show a real grasp of the anime
context. As the person who initiated the #indie_anime
hashtag campaign on social media, KOMUGIKO2000
also had a major influence in shaping the new scene.
Among the many animated music videos for Eve, Glenssou stands out as an up-and-coming young creator forhis striking key sequences. This offers a glimpse at
the state of the art when it comes to key sequence animation. Tamagawa’s ability with respect to individual
images drawn with colored pencils is undeniable. The

production and consumption. Various communities
forming their own spaces produce ideas, and justlike living organisms, these ideas pass on their genes
to growing numbers of descendants. Originating in
post-internet aesthetics living between reality and theinternet, inspirations from the likes of gaming and themetaverse, and various online creative movements,
they pass along a continuous line of derivative works.
This diverse ecosystem that lives and breathes online
is sure to go on producing surprising new creationsin the future.

Aki Yamada
TBS, DigiCon6 ASIA Festival Director
Isaku Kaneko - “The Balloon Catcher” (2020)
Sorao Sakimura - “The Sound of Cicada, Touch theWind” (2020)
Mizuki Ito - “Takano Intersection” (2021)
Ryuya Suzuki - “MAHOROBA” (2021)

I selected four works from the prizewinners at
Digicon6 ASIA. If anything, the two years of questioning
the meaning of “creation” during the COVID-19 crisis
caused an increase in the number of entries. There
was a tendency towards introspective works, and isolation was a representative theme. In Isaku Kaneko’s“The Balloon Catcher”, the distinctive artistic use of
pen and ink channels discrimination and violence into
fantasy. Sorao Sakimura’s “The Sound of Cicada, Touch
the Wind” depicts the inner turmoil of a high school
student in a vivid way that only an artist with personal
experience of school refusal can. The delicate touchand frequent use of empty white space in Mizuki Ito’s“Takano Intersection” takes a sparse script and turns
it into an simple dramatic story. I was astounded by
the passion and the entertaining portrayal of harshsituations in Ryuya Suzuki’s “MAHOROBA”, which wascompleted under the adverse circumstances of theartist’s restaurant having to suspend business.

029

Emiko Ogawa

｜

Staff Japan

Entry of Artists Active in Other Media
into the Production of Original Anime
Works
Direction, scriptwriting, design, animation, art,
visualization, CG, editing, music, voice acting, production, studios... Every detail of an animated work is theresult of collaboration between a team of artists thatcannot simply be reduced to either the director or the
production staff. In order to unravel and understandJapanese anime works, it is essential to look at suchcollective creativity.
In the context of looking at the processes that
go into producing anime works, a key feature of the2020/21 period was the entry of artists with established backgrounds in other media into the field of
anime production.
This is most noticeable in the field of original
anime works. Some examples of this are Ryota
Furusawa, who was well-known for his live-action
movies and dramas such as the Legal High series(2012-14), who worked on the TV anime Great Pretender(Hiro Kaburagi, 2020); Shinji Nojima, widely known for
his TV dramas such as High School Teacher (1993) andBara no nai Hanaya (2008), who worked on the TV anime
Wonder Egg Priority (Shin Wakabayashi, 2021); Kazuya
Konomoto, who gained attention for his work on the
manga Setoutsumi (2013-17) and who also worked
on live-action dramas, with the TV animation Odd
Taxi (Baku Kinoshita, 2021); Akiko Nogi, who has been
famous for her TV drama The Full-Time Wife Escapist(2016/21), who was involved in the feature film Inu-Oh(Masaaki Yuasa, 21 [film festival world premiere]).
These are the examples of the entry of scriptwriters
active in other media, including the field of live-action
works, into anime [*1].
Furthermore, the significance of the role of artists
other than animators in concept art has been reexamined in recent years. For example, in the original web
series Pokemon: Twilight Wings (Shingo Yamashita,2020) [*2], which originated from the video game
Pokemon: Sword and Shield (2019), the concept art andcolor scripts created by illustrator Higashi Mizutamari
were heavily utilized in producing and his distinctive
visual image of the work were impressive [*3].

Artistic Groups at the Forefront of
Digital Expression

030

Report ｜ Koji Takase
Research cooperation ｜ Shota Umehara,
Kenichi Kutsuna, Yoichi Senzui, and Koichi Noguchi

Artistic expression can be found not only withindividuals, but also with groups and organizations.
This is evident not only in the fields of drawing and art,
but also in the digital processing of imagery and CG, inwhich there were major innovations in expression in
the 2000s and early 2010s.
As an example, the digital department at StudioKhara, led by Hiroyasu Kobayashi, deviated from thein addition to his work as a musician. Eve is a symbol

industry’s standard workflow to create a unique,independent production style that incorporated theof the 2020-21 period and the way that this functions

tokusatsu style from the past. The result was to

as a crossroads between individual and collective
production, and as a place of experimentation andachieve the unique visual beauty of the Rebuild ofopportunity for young animation artists [*5].

Evangelion series (Hideaki Anno, 2007-21).
In a similar way, the digital imaging department

Nobutaka Yoda, from the production company 10
Gauge, who directed several of Eve’s animated musicat Ufotable, led by Yuichi Terao, has been leading theindustry for many years with its distinctive visual style

videos, is also involved in the field of anime film production although he focuses on subsidiary productions

that combines high-density film processing and photorealistic 3DCG. This is the process that has led to thesuch as promotional videos and trailers rather thanon the main work. While supporting the main work’s

overall picture making, including the flame and water
effects, in the Demon Slayer series (Haruo Sotozaki,

success through promotional videos, Yoda’s signature

2019-) [*4].

montages and the nuanced rhythm of his work also
showcase his directorial skill.

On the studio level, Wit Studio has not only produced ambitious TV series such as Ranking of Kings(Yosuke Hatta, 2021), but has also been involved in a
number of projects, including the appointment of independent artists as directors for The Girl from the Other

Notes
*1
Playwright Kazuki Nakajima, one of the pioneers of this trend

Side (Yutaro Kubo/Satomi Maiya, 2019/22), the establishment of a stop-motion production line culminatingin the release of Candy Caries (Tomoki Misato, 2021),

a collection of conversations entitled Nakajima Kazuki to Yakusha-hito(Kadokawa, 2020).
*2
In an interview with animator and director Kenichi Kutsuna, it
was revealed that the original drawing of the fiery Charizard in thearena at the end of episode 7 of Pokemon: Twilight Wings was doneby the animator Weilin Zhang (https://twitter.com/studiocolorido/
status/1291556045454635008, accessed July 1, 2022). Since Black
Clover (Tatsuya Yoshihara/Ayataka Tanemura, 2017-21) and Boruto:
Naruto Next Generations (Hiroyuki Yamashita/Toshiro Fujii/Masayuki
Koda, 2017-), the arrival of foreign animators who can draw high quality
Japanese-style action drawings has continued. Weilin Zhang, a young
American animator born in 2001, is but one representative of thistrend. Kutsuna, among others, was in charge of the below scene from
Fate/Grand Order The Movie: Divine Realm of the Round Table, Camelot
Paladin, Agateram (Kazuto Arai, 2021), and spoke of his amazement at
the freedom of the camera work in maintaining a sense of space andthree-dimensionality, and the drawing perfection of the curtains, cloaks,
and other fabrics that move naturally (https://twitter.com/Xenophoss/
status/1543719342910541824, accessed July 1, 2022).
*3
The production of still images is not normally the domain ofanimators, whose job is to create moving images. In an interview,
Shota Umehara of Clover Works emphasized the importance of using

The Expanding Range of Artists
Playing with SoundAs for the voice actors who support the characters along with the images, it is worth mentioning that
Megumi Ogata, who played the leading roles of Shinji
Ikari in Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (Hideaki
Anno, 2021) and Yuta Okkotsu in the movie Jujutsu
Kaisen 0 (Sunghoon Park, 2021), both of which were
hits in 2021. Ogata’s presence was also noteworthy interms of her attitude, as evidenced by the publicationof her autobiography Rebirth (Kadokawa, 2021) and her
acceptance speech for the Best Voice Actress Award at
the 16th Seiyu Awards.
Kensuke Ushio has created the musical accompaniments for the series Japan Sinks: 2020 (Masaaki
Yuasa, 2020), the feature film Words Bubble Up Like
Soda Pop (Kyouhei Ishiguro, 2020), and the series The
Heike Story (Naoko Yamada, 2021 [advance distribution]), among other works. He has also worked on
several original works, most notably his collaboration
with director Naoko Yamada, in which Ushio went
beyond the mere production of dramatic accompaniments and delved into the realm of direction.
In terms of theme songs, Eve, who sang the opening song for the TV anime Jujutsu Kaisen (Sunghoon
Park, 2020-21) and for the feature film Josee, the Tiger
and the Fish (Kotaro Tamura, 2020), has released animated music videos on YouTube for many of his songs,

professionals to create the visuals for his work, including inviting theillustrator taracod to produce the concept art for his production Wonder
Egg Priority. In addition, Umehara also spoke about Pokemon: Twilight
Wings as a clear example of the effectiveness of concept art, and also
drew attention to the innovative work of Shingo Yamashita, who controls the visual image by handling the filming and processing himself.
*4
In the interview period, cinematographer Yoichi Senzui and Toei
Animation’s Koichi Noguchi both acknowledged the historical importance and expressive achievements of the digital imaging department
at Ufotable. We also discussed the topic of digital expression with
Senzui speaking about the vintage lens effect employed by Kyoto
Animation’s cinematography department in Violet Evergarden: The
Movie (Taichi Ishidate, 2020). While Noguchi referenced the TV anime
Dorohedoro (Yuichiro Hayashi, 2020), in which Mappa’s CGI department
created 3DCG expressions with delicate gradations that blended wellwith the drawings.
*5
Although anonymity was a condition of the interviews, I gained
many insights into the music and sound scene through interviews withmusic producers.

031

and the launch of the animator training program Wit
Animator Juku. In this way, the studio attracted attention with a range of activities and projects that weredifferent from those of existing production companies.

in recent years, continued to make his presence felt in 2020/21 as
the series director for several TV anime series as well as publishing｜Business Japan

Online Communication Overcoming
COVID-19
For the past 10 years, distance between different
entities and places has become shorter, such as Japanand the rest of the world, independent creators andlarge-scale studios, analog and digital, the city and thecountryside. The 2020’s have brought a remarkablechange in this borderless world.
At the beginning of 2020 when COVID-19 began its
spread across the world, film festivals, markets, fanevents inevitably cancelled their activities, one after
another. Many studio operations were hurt during thistime, with domestic productions and releases being
delayed. The necessary communications for planning,producing and distribution also suffered some damage. It seems like such happenings have obstructed
the goals of becoming borderless.
However, the animation industry has shown its
resilience in hard times. The key to this was using theinternet. Many events were moved online, such as fromAnnecy International Animation Film Festival in France
to the live stage business market of AnimeJapan within the country. While real life meetings were restricted
by COVID-19, the online world made it easier for people
to connect with events they would have never gone to;it made new global connections. These online events
overcame international borders, which were originallyobstacles.
The digitalization of productions, which had been
delayed in Japan, has progressed. Animation studios
have launched themselves outside the big cities with
their digital infrastructure and remote work has
been actively promoted as a new way of working. [*1]Using online infrastructure has made people realizethat there are business opportunities even when not
located in the big cities. As COVID-19 calms down after
2022, online communication will still be important andprovide a change to the world in many ways.

032

The Wave of the Digitalization and theChanging Production System

Report ｜ Tadashi Sudo

Online streaming platforms have further pushedworking online and contributed to the recognition of
more works. There are many users now globally using
online streaming during the pandemic. Many popular
shows on these platforms are animated, with animation films and series going into intense planning andproduction across the world.
Japanese animation shows and films are very
popular there. In 2017, Netflix and Amazon Prime
Video made their way to Japan and in 2021, Disney+embarked on acquiring Japanese works. With this,the demand for domestic production has rapidly increased. [*2] This is where foreign platforms become

the main players in the industry, but Japanese companies are starting to become more proactive as well. In
August 2021, Sony Group acquired the world’s largest
Japanese animation streaming platform Crunchyroll
from the US at the cost of around 130 billion yen [*3].
They’re aiming for growth by putting themselves into
the foreign streaming service industry.
The market for Japanese animation has grown
1.8 times in size in the past 10 years [*4]. Video gamecompanies, movie distribution companies and talentagencies continue to participate in the market. Adding

There is an increasing amount of cases where
works that have received foreign investment are
being nominated at film festivals. Netflix invested in
B: The Beginning in 2018, Dino Girl Gauko in 2019, Japan
Sinks: 2020 in 2021. These were put into competition as
Netflix works. “What country is this film or animation
from?” may no longer be the right question to ask.
The industry will continue to become moreglobalized as the world frees itself from COVID-19 in
the 2020’s. Animation creators will need to be able toadapt to these kinds of situations as time passes.

on the needs of video streaming companies, production

are being offered new opportunities, which means alack of enough human resources is becoming a concern. Sharp rises in production budgets from digital
investment for the next generation and the rising costof human resources continues to this day. There is anincrease of studios that are working on improving theconditions of the industry and training human resources due to the lack of staff [*6]. While it is a good thathiring conditions are improving for the industry, which
was very difficult at times, it does put a lot of pressure
on studios’ operations in the short term.
Becoming more efficient in production is one method to address the lack of human resources. There’s
continual research and development of decreasing
the number of manual things to do like making some
hand drawn animation parts such as background art
production and the in-between automatic [*7]. Using
digital production tools such as Unreal Engine andBlender are becoming more popular.

Creativity Knows No Boundaries
One major issue is the sharp rise in costs for
productions despite making business plans ahead oftime. Domestic business and consumption are simply
not enough to recover the cost of production [*8].
Japanese animation production is not viable without
the overseas market. Foreign investment, sellingshows and licenses to foreign companies, these are
all things that point to Japanese animation production
becoming part of the global network.
Business relationships between Japan and theoutside world have widen their reach beyond justinvestment, production orders, deliverables andlicensing. It is not just putting pictures together andplacing an order. Nowadays, there are many international staff who work in the Japanese animationindustry [*9] as well as Japanese creators working
on international projects. One such example of this ispopular Director Kamiyama Kenji being appointed towork on Hollywood’s The Lord of the Rings: The War of
the Rohirrim as the director [*10].

Notes
*1
2020 TSUMUGI AKITA ANIMATION LAB Co.,Ltd. in Akita City, Akita
prefecture, establishment. (Official website: https://www.tsumu-sakuga.com/), in July 2021, Studio Eight Colors was established in Kochi
City, Kochi prefecture. (Official website: https://eightcolors.jp/) It was
remarkable that they moved to a large city known for its shrinking population. Studios with rising influence outside large cities such as MAPPA
in Sendai (established in 2020) and Tsukuba’s WIT STUDIO (establishedin 2018) are notable for their locations.
*2
Disney+ unveiled an ambitious contents line up for the AsiaPacific region. (October 14th, 2021: https://disneyplus.disney.co.jp/
news/2021/content-showcase.html) In addition to launching the Starbrand in Japan at the same time, Disney announced Japanese animation titles available only on Disney+ such as Black Rock Shooter DAWN
FALL, Summer Time Rendering and Yojohan Time Machine Blues.
*3“Information regarding the completed acquisition of Ellation
Holdings, Inc. which operated the animation streaming site Crunchyroll
by Sony Pictures Entertainment.” (August 10th, 2021: https://www.sony.
com/ja/SonyInfo/IR/news/20210810_J.pdf)*4, *5“Animation Industry Report (2021)” (November 4th, 2021 written
and edited by The Association of Japanese Animations)*6
Previously, there were human resource training programs suchas Sunrise’s “Picture Drawing” or Kyoto Animation’s “Pro School” but in
April 2021 WIT STUDIO launched “WIT Animator School” in collaboration
with Sasayuri Video Training and Netflix (https://www.witstudio.co.jp/
news/2021/02/574.html). In September of 2022, Studio Ponoc, Inc. will
launch PPAP, “Ponoc’s Principles of Animation Program.” (https://www.
ponoc.jp/recruit/ppap/) Up and coming studios and established studios
are starting to invest in education.
*7
Experimental initiatives on efficiency for animation production
via AI technologies by Toei Animation and PFN. (March 12th, 2021,
https://corp.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/ir/news/auto_20210311477158/pdfFile.
pdf) Automatic inbetween software “CACANi” (https://cacani.info/),automatic animation coloring technology development by OLM Digital,
Inc. and Nara Institute of Science and Technology (November 28th, 2018https://www.imagicagroup.co.jp/news/2018/2018112802).
*8
According to “[Chart 2.12] Animation Video Package Sales” onpage 54 of the Animation Industry Report 2021, animation video package
sales, which have traditionally been the core of the production committee type business, will decline from 138.7 billion yen in 2005 to 46.5
billion yen by 2020.
*9
The director of the 2021 blockbuster Jujutsu Kaisen is Park SeoAh, from South Korea, and Science SARU president Choi Eun-Young,
who produced Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020) and The Heike
Story (2021), is also from South Korea and studied animation at a British
university.
*10 “New Line Cinema Joins Forces with Warner Bros. Animation
to Sweep Fans Back to Middle-Earth with the Standalone Anime
Feature “The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim” (June 10th,2021) WarnerMedia (https://pressroom.warnermedia.com/ca/
media-release/warner-bros/new-line-cinema-joins-forces-warnerbros-animation-sweep-fans-back-middle-earth)033

continues to increase in number [*5]. As the numberof productions go up, new studios and young talentAnimation Business Highlights in 2020-2021

Tadashi Sudo

2020
January●

The Winsor McCay Award is presented to the late Satoshi Kon posthumously at the Annie Awards in the
United States.

AnimeJapan 2020 and Tokyo Anime Award Festival (TAAF) 2020 are canceled due to Covid-19.
Japan Educational Network of Animation (JENA) is founded.
		
Covid-19 continues to cause multiple postponements in TV broadcasting and film releases.
March

●

April

●
●

June

●

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival becomes an online event.

●		A Whisker Away (produced by Studio Colorid) is switched from its planned theater release all over Japan

July

●

August●to exclusive streaming on Netflix worldwide.
AnimeExpo (the United States) and Japan Expo (France) are canceled due to Covid-19.
Manga Toshi (city) Tokyo Exhibit: Japanese manga, anime, games, and tokusatsu (SFX films) opens at the

National Art Center, Tokyo.
		The 18th HIROSHIMA International Animation Festival is held online only.
		Asahi Broadcasting Group gains full ownership of SILVER LINK., an animation production company.
		
A General Incorporated Association, the Association of Japanese Animations, makes public “A Manual for
TV Anime Series Production Assistants.”
October
Children of the Sea (produced by STUDIO4°C) wins the Grand Prize in the feature film competition at
Bucheon International Animation Festival.
		Netflix signs a comprehensive business partnership agreement with four studios (ANIMA&COMPANY,
MAPPA, and SCIENCE SARU of Japan and Studio Mir Co., Ltd. of Korea).
		
Seven Days War (produced by AJIADO CO., LTD.) wins the best feature length film award in the anime
section at The Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia in Spain.
		Demon Slayer-Kimetsu no Yaiba-The Movie: Mugen Train (produced by Ufotable) is released. It grosses thebiggest in Japan’s history, over 40 billion yen at the box office in May 2021.
November
TIFFCOM, an international trade fair at Tokyo International Film Festival, hosts Tokyo Gap-Financing
Market (TGFM).
		CG Anime Contest is held as part of Kyoto International Manga Anime Award.
		The Japanese dubbed version of The Legend of Hei, a Chinese animation film, is co-distributed by Aniplex
Inc. and released in Japan.
		
EJ ANIME MUSEUM opens in Kadokawa Culture Museum in Tokorozawa, Tokyo.
DecemberSales of animation software, CLIP STUDIO PAINT, developed by Celsys, Inc., exceed 10 million copies
worldwide.
		Disney cancels its theater release of Soul, a new feature film created by Pixar Animation Studio, andstarts exclusive streaming on Disney+.
●
●
●

●

●

●

●

●

●
●

●
●

●

2021
Director Tomoki Misato’s stop motion animation, PUI PUI MOLCAR, produced by Shin-Ei Animation, starts
TV broadcasting.
March
Yasuo Otsuka, an animator, dies.
		Toei Animation and Preferred Networks jointly conduct trials on the use of AI technologies for background images to streamline anime production.
		Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (produced by Studio Khara Inc.) is released as the final chapter ofJanuary

●

●
●

034

●

April●the series. Total box office revenue reaches 10.2 billion yen.
China makes stricter rules for pre-screening of streaming programs. Consequently, delays becomefrequent in the distribution and broadcasting of Japanese animation programs in China.

●
		
WIT Animator School opens. WIT STUDIO, Netflix, and Sasayuri Training Center collaborate to raise anddevelop human resources.
		
Studio Ponoc launches Ponoc’s “Principles of Animation” Program to raise and train animators.
		
ODDTAXI, planned and original by P.I.C.S., starts broadcasting.
		
DETECTIVE CONAN “The Scarlet Bullet” (produced by TMS ENTERTAINMENT CO., LTD.) is released in 22●●●

countries and territories simultaneously worldwide.
●		Demon Slayer-Kimetsu no Yaiba-The Movie: Mugen Train hits No. 1 on the weekend at the U.S. box office.
●		Japan’s BIGWEST CO., LTD., STUDIO NUE, INC., and HARMONY GOLD U.S.A. announce expansive agree-

May

●

June

●

ment for the future of MACROSS and ROBOTECH projects.
The Journey produced by Saudi Arabia’s Manga Productions and Toei Animation is released in the Middle
East and North Africa. The release in Japan is scheduled for June 2021.
Otawamure (directed by Yoriko Mizushiri) wins the Best VR Project award in Animafest Zagreb 2021 inZagreb.

●		
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (produced by bones inc.) is selected as the opening film at the Annecy

International Animation Film Festival.
●
		WarnerMedia chooses Kenji Kamiyama as director of the animation film, The Lord of the Rings: The Warof the Rohirrim.
		
KADODAWA founds Studio KADAN, a new 3D CG animation and visual effects anime studio.
		Chris Meledandri (CEO of Illumination Entertainment) is appointed Outside Director at Nintendo Co., Ltd.
●●TMS ENTERTAINMENT CO., LTD. announces its UNLIMITED PRODUCE project.
		
Studio Ponoc and the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage co-produce and release a short film,
Tomorrow’s Leaves.
		
Seven studios in Japan produce Star Wars omnibus animation for exclusive streaming on Disney+.
July

●
●

●

Sony’s Funimation Global Group completes its acquisition of Crunchyroll, a streaming service forJapanese anime.
		Tencent, a Chinese entertainment conglomerate invests 30 billion yen (6.86%) in KADOKAWA.
August●●●		
The live-action adaptation of a Japanese anime, Cowboy Bebop, is released on Netflix simultaneously

worldwide.
●		
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time becomes available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video worldwide.
●		Polygon Pictures founds a CG studio in India, as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Fuji Television and Crunchyroll announce a partnership in the co-development and co-production ofanime series.
		
INU-OH, an animated feature film, (produced by Science SARU INC.), has its world premiere in the
Orizzonti competition section at the 78th Venice Film Festival.
		
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opens in Los Angeles, the United States with its inaugural exhibition, Hayao Miyazaki.
September●●●

October●

Disney+ announces its licensing of three Japanese animation titles for exclusive streaming worldwide.

●		
HIDEAKI ANNO EXHIBITION starts at THE NATIONAL ART CENTER, TOKYO.
●		
Toei Animation and Korea’s CJ ENM Co., Ltd sign a strategic partnership agreement to produce content

targeting global markets.
●		
Honekami (A Bite of Bone) (directed by Honami Yano) wins the Grand Prize for the Short Animation section

at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
November
The Association of Japanese Animations announces in its “Anime Industry Report 2021” that the global
market surpassed the Japanese market for Japanese animation.
December
A Japanese animation film, JUJUTSU KAISEN 0: The Movie (produced by MAPPA), is released. It grosses
over 12 billion yen at the box office.
		From the Fragments of Tezuka Osamu, the digital NFT art project based on numerous manga manuscripts by Tezuka Osamu, starts its auction sales. Animation-related NFT businesses begin to thrive.
●

●

035

●

｜

Exhibitions JapanThe Ecosystem of Anime in
Exhibitions
What is an “anime exhibition”? We can startby saying that it should include (1) works such as
drawings, scripts and model sheets related to the
production of an animation work, (2) materials suchas videotapes, film prints and DVDs related to thework, (3) distribution-related materials such as data
provided by experts and magazines, (4) other exhibition-related materials including derivative works suchas screenshots, clippings and life-size cardboards,
dioramas, VR, AR, etc., and (5) exhibitions that focus onanimation forms and works across a variety of genres
and issues. We could also say that an anime exhibition
is an ensemble of all the points mentioned above.
However, when we think of the exhibitions heldin 2020 or 2021, we wonder where these took place.
Anime exhibitions are strongly geared toward fans oftitles that have already aired or original mangas thatwill be adapted to movies [*1]. They are primarily aform of promotion or pop-up stores held at commercial facilities, mainly in department stores’ event halls[*2]. Still, in recent years, different anime exhibitions
have been organized in national and public museums.

Opportunities for Projects
Diversification as seen in Travelling
Anime Exhibitions

036

A good starting point to get an idea of the opportunities for diversification of anime exhibitions is tolook at the number of travelling ones. According to theReport ｜ Mederu Kiritori
Research Cooperation ｜ Ryohei Miyamoto

author’s survey, the most prominent travelling anime
exhibition, including those held in 2020 and 2021, is theEvangelion Exhibition (Evangelion-ten) (22 venues), followed by the Sazae-san Exhibition (Sazae-san-ten) (13venues), which signed the 50th broadcast anniversaryof the anime of the homonymous name and the Ghibli
Expo held in 12 venues, finishing with the exhibitionof the movie directed by Makoto Shinkai WeatheringWith You. A special mention goes to the Ghibli Exporanked 9th for the number of visitors to exhibitions in
the FY2019 [*3]. Moreover, the Hideaki Anno Exhibition(The National Art Center, Tokyo), which exposes manyof Hideaki Anno’s works from childhood to the presentday, has attracted more than 140,000 visitors, making
animation a significant genre for exhibitions in Japan.
During the last decade, public art museums
started to generate revenues from exhibitions abouta wide range of contemporary culture topics, such asanimation and manga, as in the Evangelion Exhibition
and the Makoto Shinkai Exhibition, which are just twoof the many supported by media. This shows how museums already deal with subcultures and, at the sametime, need to purchase bundles to attract fans of theworks to anime and original exhibitions while proactively planning for a general public [*4]. National andincluded VR-specific content created by reinterpretingthe animation of the film [*8]. Tokorozawa Sakura

public museums, operated by public funds, should not
only expose manga and anime works and their artists

Town, which opened in 2020 to become Japan’s larg-

to their fans but also to a broader public, presenting

by Covid-19 and is exploring options between hosting
local exhibitions and online events with VR [*9].

these works and authors as social and historical

est pop culture destination, has also been influenced

events or animation itself as an object that can be
critically analyzed. In particular, the Tomino Exhibition
was planned and prepared by seven curators of six
different museums; the utilized space in each museum and the presented works were the same. It was

Notes
*1
The abundance of information on the products for sale on thean exhibition launched with the awareness of how
exhibition on Anime could be bundled together [*5].

“Anime.Eiga (Anime Hakku in Japanese)” is probably one of the mostconvenient sources to get information about anime-related exhibitionsin Japan. (https://anime.eiga.com/, last access: July 1st, 2022)*3
BEST 30 Exhibitions Attendances in 2019, Top’s “The Dinosaur

Another problem in planning anime-related
exhibitions today is the trend toward single-artist
exhibitions due to the complexity related to rights [*6]:an example that meets these difficulties is MANGA ⇔TOKYO. For this exhibition, a visiting researcher was
invited for each genre, and a curatorial team worked
around the National Art Center, Tokyo, to provide theirhigh expertise and to create a foundation for an inexhaustible comparative study of Japanese pop culture
in relation to the city of Tokyo, as the title suggests.
It has become a reference point for anime and pop
culture exhibitions.

Animation as a Method or Means inContemporary Art Exhibitions
A special mention goes to Masaharu Sato’s
rotoscope work Masaharu Sato Trace – Absence ofPresence/Presence of Absence, in which he produced
a variety of works with the rotoscope technique andHo Tzu Nyen’s solo exhibition Night March of a Hundred
Monsters, which effectively used animation as ameans to clear copyrights on documentary footage
about the integration of yokai images in East Asia andJapanese national politics during the war. Akihiko
Taniguchi’s “softplay”, which premiered in the 2019
edition of Festival/Tokyo, is a video work that mixes
3DCG animation and live action It was created withthe game engine Unity and it is a brilliant exampleof the present sameness between animation and car
accidents, making it a clever work that contains themerge of fantasy into reality.

exhibition’s official website is proof of this.
*2
The “Anime and Voice Actors Event Calendar” of the website

Expo 2019” with 680,000 visitors, Art News Online 2019, (http://www.
art-annual.jp/news-exhibition/news/74458/, last access: July 1st, 2022)*4
Takeshi Kudo “A Study of Manga and Anime Exhibitions at Public
Museums” Tomino Exhibition and Syd Mead: PROGRESSIONS TYO 2019 by
Artscape 2019 (https://artscape.jp/report/curator/10156250_1634.html,
Last access: July 1st, 2022)*5
Takeshi Kudo, one of the organizers of the Tomino Exhibition, cites
Motoi Wakamatsu for the Tohl Narita: Art/Special Effects/Monsters exhibition, Yuri Kawanishi and Takashi Murakami from the Torimega Lab. for
the Young Pretty Girls in Art History exhibition and Tadashi Kobayashi andKoki Okamoto for Ogawara Kunio: legend of mechanical design exhibition
as examples of the accumulation of exhibitions at public museums andtheir lineages (Takeshi Kudo, after the Tomino Exhibition, a talk by theCurator in Charge of the Aomori Venue, artscape, 2021 https://artscape.
jp/report/curator/10168685_1634.html, last access: July 1st, 2022)*6
Ryuhei Miyamoto and Koichi Inoue point out the difficulties inanime exhibitions and other pop culture exhibitions below. Koji Takase(ed.), “Cultural Resource Content Creation Project with the Japan Expoin 2019 (Organized and Co-sponsored)” MANGA ⇔ TOKYO “Exhibition
Interim Report,” The National Art Center, Tokyo, 2020 (https://www.nact.
jp/exhibition_special/2020/manga-toshi-tokyo/pdf/manga-toshi-tokyo_report.pdf, last access: July 1st. 2022)*7“Visitor Figures 2020: top 100 art museums revealed as attendance drops by 77% worldwide”, The Art Newspaper, 2021 (https://www.
theartnewspaper.com/2021/03/30/visitor-figures-2020-top-100-artmuseums-revealed-as-attendance-drops-by-77percent-worldwide,
last access: July 1st, 2022)*8
Keiro, “Sony and Kayak teamed up to realize the SAO VR event,and those involved talk about behind-the-scenes details”, MoguLive.
(https://www.moguravr.com/sao-ex-chronicle-interview/ last access:July 1st. 2022)*9
For example, the exhibition Isekai Museum, held July
17-September 26, 2021, was also held in parallel with the EJ Anime
Museum in Tokorozawa Sakura Town Kadokawa Culture Museum andonline venues.

In 2020, many museums were hit by the effectsof Covid-19, and the number of visitors decreased [*7].
Domestic anime exhibitions were no exception, being
postponed or cancelled as a result. This situation,
however, brought encouragement towards exhibitionsin VR. In particular, Sword Art Online – Ex Chronicles
which was held in Tokyo and Kyoto in 2020 and 2021,
saw a VR edition in 2021 in the wake of Covid-19 and037

Anime Exhibitions and Covid-19

｜Academia/journalism/education Japan

Overview of academic papers andstudiesAcademic papers: With research into animation
flourishing in recent years, there has likewise been an
increase, albeit gradual, in the number of researchersacquiring doctoral degrees in animation research
after conducting research into animation during theirdoctoral programs, having originated from undergraduate or master’s programs [*1]. Aside from research
relating to engineering-related aspects and computer
graphics (CG), which has hitherto been relatively commoner, there is also considerable research meriting
attention in relation to the domains of the humanities
and sociology, and growing numbers of such doctoral
theses are being commercially published in the samemanner as theses in more traditional domains [*2].
Academic books: As research themes have become increasingly diverse, sociological research andanthologies [*3] based on “industry”- and “work”-related perspectives are being published in addition to
studies of particular authors or works and historicalresearch; this, in addition to a strong showing ofworks written by mid-career and experienced older
researchers, suggests an increasing level of richness
and depth in terms of the domains of animation research and generational spread [*4]. Finally, with more
and more papers relating to animation appearing inacademic society journals and academic journals in awide variety of fields and domains, the diversificationof themes, fields and domains in animation is also
proceeding apace [*5].
The outcomes [*7] of the research projects of theInternational Research Center for Japanese Studies,
which are considered to be important results incross-sectoral domains which run through researchand criticism in general [*6], are also drawing attention. “Guidance for animation research” [*8] was also
published as an outcome of a project of the Agency for
Cultural Affairs.
Overall, literature relating to animation-related
research and papers on animation is flourishing.
Meanwhile, although Japanese translations of important literature from overseas on animation havenot made significant inroads, literary works which
are highly important to animation research from thestandpoints of film studies, visual media studies andmedia research have nevertheless been published inJapan [*9].

038Overview of general books andmagazines

Repost ｜ Masashi Koide

Books: As the “60th anniversary of TV animation”
in 2023 draws near, a series of books which look backover the history of Japanese animation have been

published [*10]. Moreover, with numerous books relating to “contents tourism” being published as before

22nd Annual Conference of JSAS, while eight research[*11], it may be said that “contents tourism” has established itself as a sub-genre of animation research- andwere given at the 23rd Annual Conference of the sameorganization. Five research presentations relating toanimation were given at the 46th Annual Meeting of
JASIAS; similarly, five such presentations were given
at the 47th Annual Meeting (at the conferences of
JSCS, the number of similar presentations was zero

which came out in October 2020, there have been
more opportunities for “anime” and “animation” toon both years).
Deaths: Yasushi Watanabe, pioneer of researchbe discussed in regular newspapers and magazines

into Japanese animation, passed away on 27 March
2020 at the age of 86 [*18]. Mikiro Kato, the film critic

based on “Demon Slayer,” with a number of special
features based on academic papers being compiled

and film studies expert who founded JSCS, passed

in regular magazines, and even in specialist journals

away on 26 September 2020 at the age of 63 [*19],

which might be considered to have little connection
with animation [*12].
Special features have also been created in Bijutsu

while visual media critic and researcher Tetsuro
Hatano who was connected with the founding and administration of all three organizations (JASIAS, JSAS

Techo and Kinema Junpo, publications which are infields connected with anime and animation and similar
domains [*13]. “Special feature: The metamorphosis of

and JSCS) also passed away on 2 October 2020 at theage of 84 [*20].
Education: The Faculty of Anime and Manga was

the manga market” was also run as a serial in Tsukuru[*14]. Eureka, a magazine which had frequently discussed themes relating to anime and animation even
before this point, has not only published special features on Satoshi Kon and Akino Kondoh [*15], but has
also published several features which include papers

established in 2021 at Kaishi Professional University(Niigata City), one of the professional and vocational
universities (PVUs) that have been set up based onrelating to animation [*16].
These special features include numerous examples of pieces which are interconnected with “Demon
Slayer” or which take up the themes of anime/animation [*17], and may be considered a reflection of theway that animation has permeated Japanese society

hosted by the ICAF Executive Committee and co-hosted by Japan Animation Association (JAA) and JSAS,
was held for the 18th time, with this session being held
online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic [*21]; following this, the 19th session of this festival (ICAF2021)
was held online as well [*22].

at large and developed connections with a wide variety
of fields and domains, and of the fact that the prejudice
formerly seen against manga has faded as a result of
manga becoming familiar to a wider spread of generations.

Notes
*1
The data for 2020~2021 is taken from Volume 7 of Scholarly and

Trends in the domain of educational
research
Academic societies: The conferences (annual
workshops) of the Japan Society for Animation Studies(JSAS), the Japan Society of Image Arts and Sciences(JASIAS) and the Japan Society for Cinema Studies(JSCS) were held entirely online over 2020~2021, in thewake of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the 23rd Annual
Conference of JSAS in 2020, Akiko Sugawa-Shimada(professor, Yokohama National University) assumed
office as the new president of the organization, whileat the 47th Annual Meeting of JASIAS held in the same
year, Ayako Saito (professor, Meiji Gakuin University)
assumed office as JASIAS’s new president, both
women being the first-ever female presidents of theirrespective organizations.
Twelve research presentations were given at thethe 2017 Amendment to the School Education Act. In
addition, the Inter College Animation Festival 2020
(ICAF2020), the “animation film festival for students”

Academic Information Navigator (CiNii) Research.
*2
Yuko Miyamoto, Representational orientation in the films of the
Fleischer Brothers: Juxtaposing the Real and Animated in Hybrid Space(Suiseisha, June 2020), and Toshiya Kimura, The historical study of Toei
Animation (Nippon Hyoron Sha, September 2020), both received theJapan Society for Animation Studies Award.
*3
Shintaro Matsunaga, Workplace studies on freelance animators inan animation studio (Nakanishiya Shuppan, March 2020), and Daisuke
Nagata and Shintaro Matsunaga (ed.), Sociology of anime (Nakanishiya
Shuppan, October 2020), etc.
*4Ishida Minori, Anime and voice actors in media history: Why dowomen play boys’ parts? (Seikyusha, December 2020), and Masao
Yokota, Proactive action in animation: psychological analysis of characters(Kaneko Shobo, March 2021), etc.
Note 5The publication of 479 papers which include the word
“anime” or “animation” in their titles over the 2020~2021 period (including those published in general magazines) suggests this growing
diversification (CiNii Research).
*6
Ryota Fujitsu, Anime and War (Nippon Hyoron Sha, February 2021),
and (by the same author) Outline of anime: Looking at subjects, creatorsand techniques (Seidosha, October 2021).
*7
Nichibunken Popular Culture Research Project (ed.), A History of
Popular Culture in Japan (Kadokawa, September 2020), and Eiji Otsuka(ed.), Popular culture as a movement: collaboration, fans and cultural
production (Suiseisha, September 2021), etc.
*8
Nobuaki Doi (ed.), “Media arts and research mapping: Guidance foranimation research” (Agency for Cultural Affairs, February 2020).

039

criticism-related literature.
Magazines and journals: As a result of thehistoric boom engendered by the hit film Demon
Slayer—Kimetsu no Yaiba—The Movie: Mugen Trainpresentations plus three themed panel presentations

*9
Tom Gunning, When Images Begin to Move: The Archeology of
Photography, Film, and Animation. Translated and localized by Masato
Hase (Misuzu Shobo, November 2021).
*10 Yusuke Nakagawa, Foundation of the Anime Nation 1963–1973: The
Pioneers Who Built TV Anime (East Press, August 2020), Aritsune Toyota,
Birth of Japanese Anime (Bensey Publishing, August 2020), and Masatoki
Minami, An account of the fight for Showa era anime: The early careers oflegendary animators (Temjin, June 2021) etc.
*11 A journey through the world of Disney movies (JTB Publishing,
August 2020), and Evangelion and railways: a complementary plan—“Third Impact” from the railways though the world of the “Evas”! (Temjin,
November 2021), etc.
*12 “Special feature: The French and anime,” France (Hakusuisha),
September 2020 edition, and “Special feature: Anime/manga and earthscience,” Minna no Chigaku (Japan Society of Earth Science Education),
No. 2 (2021), etc.
*13 “Special feature: The creativity of animation: What innovations
took place in 2010s anime history?” Bijutsu Techo (Culture ConvenienceClub), February 2020 edition, and “Demon Slayer and animation
films’ current status and future possibilities,” Kinema Junpo (Kinema
Junposha), combined early/late January 2021 edition, etc.
*14 Tsukuru (Tsukuru Publishing Co., Ltd.), May 2020 and May 2021
editions.
*15 “Special feature: The world of Satoshi Kon—Perfect Blue,
Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika...and the next 10 years,”
Eureka (Seidosha), August 2020 edition, and “Special feature: The
elusive ‘girlhood’ theme running through Akino Kondoh’s work—from
The Evening Traveling and KiyaKiya to A-ko’s Boyfriends and New York de
Kangae-chu,” Eureka, March 2021 edition.
*16 Published on four occasions: “Special feature: The ‘female otaku’of today: Me and my favorites,” Eureka (Seidosha), September 2020
edition; “Special feature: The world of soft toys,” January 2021 edition;“Special feature: Taiwanese cinema today,” August 2021 edition; and“Special feature: The history of special effects in film, marking 120 years
since the birth of Eiji Tsuburaya,” October 2021 edition.
*17 Yasuyuki Echi, “Legal issues connected with ‘characters’ inmanga, anime and computer games, taking the ‘MariCar’ case’ as a casestudy,” (“Special feature: Entertainment law is fascinating!”), Hogaku
Kyoshitsu (Yuhikaku), August 2020 edition, etc.
*18 Co-author of History of Japanese Animation (Yubunsha, 1978), The
Genesis of Japanese anime (Shueisha, March 2020), etc.
*19 Positions held include those of professor at Kyoto University,
President of JSCS. He is the author of the following works in relation
to animation: Film Studies of Animation (Rinsen Book, 2009), andRepresentation and criticism: Film, animation and manga (Iwanami
Shoten, 2010).
*20 Positions previously held include those of professor at Tokyo
Zokei University, graduate school professor of Nihon University, president of JASIAS, vice-president of JSAS, honorary consultant to JSCS
etc. In addition, Tadasu Oyama, psychologist and first president of JSAS,
passed away on 16 December 2019 at the age of 91.
*21 Held over 19 September~4 October 2020, with a total of 159 works
and 22 participating institutions.

040*22 Held over 18 September~3 October 2021, with a total of 190 works
and 25 participating institutions.

Yu-jin Choi
Secretary General of Korea Independent Animation Association,
General manager, Indie Ani-fest

Director

Music Director

Seungbae Jeon

Dongwook Kim

Reason for recommendation

Reason for recommendation

Jeon Seungbae is a stop motion
animation director and the represent-

When discussing Korea’s independent
animation films, Kim Dongwook is an
inseperable part of the industry as amusic director. He got his start in theindustry in 2003, when he first participated in the production of a shortanimation film. He has now worked onaround 100 short films, with his latest
titled “Salvia at Nine,” and “The Cave.”
His work is not limited to short films
though, as he has actively worked
on full-length animation, Climbing,
Netflix’s drama series, Hellbound,among others as a music director.

ative of animation studio, Toyvill. Hispresence on the scene in the country
is very important as there are notmany stop motion animation creators
in South Korea. In 2008, he debutedwith his work, “What’s Wrong” andcontinues to create stop motion animations to this day. In 2018, his stop
motion animation film, “Saturday’s
Apartment” created from needle
felting, earned him praise in South
Korea and abroad. His film, “Battery
Daddy,”created in 2021, was screened
more than 30 times at both international and Korean film festivals.
Seungbae’s talents are not limited
to just stop motion animation works.
He has also published picture books
and finds different ways to meet his
audience.

Despite his busy schedule, Dongwook
continues to have an unwavering love
for independent animation, as heparticipates in their production. He isa reassuring partner in this industry
as he is proactive in joining in animation creator film festival parties andcontinues to have discussions andconsultations about music production.

Director

Director

Minji Kang

Jun-pyo Hong

Reason for recommendation

Reason for recommendation

Kang Minji is the representative andowner of animation studio, Frame

Hong Jun-pyo is an animation director and the representative of Studio
Roomer. He was the director for

Lee Kyung-hwa is an independent
animation creator and the represent-

full-length animation film, Chun Tae-il,
which was released in 2021. Since his

ative of Seoul & Animator. She’s the
Asian programmer for Indie-AniFest,

time as a student at the Korea National
University of Arts, he has createdan animation festival that introduces
independent Asian animation toshort films which have been featured
and screened at film festivals. Knownfor his intuitive and stylish short film
works, Jun-pyo received great praisefor his depiction of Chun Tae-il, a young
man who left a huge, historical markon Korean labor movements, whose
legacy continues to breath with us tothis day. Branding his unique style ofdirecting on both short and full-lengthfilms, many eagerly anticipate Junpyo’s next move after his debut.

a wider audience. She’s a creator
known for her enthusiastism andhaving fun with her work. In 1999
after creating her graduation piece,“Daddy and I,” Kyung-hwa worked atanimation film festivals for a longtime. While working, she created her
own individual works, interviewing
animators and writing books. In 2021,
she participated as a director for“Cookie Coffee Dosirak.”The Seoul& Animator web magazine has beenreborn, introducing new works andinterviews with creators to a larger
audience. Full of new ideas and passion for the independent animationindustry, Kyung-hwa has vitality forthe art as an activist.

By Frame, where she also directs
her works. She started her career inindependent animation after creating
her graduation piece in 2006. She
has created her own unique works
of art in her own experimental
style, creating her ninth work titled,“Belongings.” In addition to directing,Kang Minji also acts as a producer.
Her work, “Cookie Coffee Dosirak,”planned in 2021, talks about three
women writers living in modern society. Other than short films, she has
produced commericals, promotional
videos, among others, collaboratingwith other artists and widening her
reach as a director and producer.

East Asia: South Korea

Director

Kyung-hwa (Kaye) Lee
Reason for recommendation

041｜

東アジア 韓国

Recommended by

Report ｜ Yu-jin Choi

The years 2020 and 2021 were times that foundduring the pandemic, people have not stopped work-

opportunity in an ever-changing environment andfound hope in times of crisis. COVID-19 stopped people

ing collectively together. In 2020, when it seemed likein their tracks and the world seemingly became quiet.
However, it was also a time where I was much more
active than usual.
I have seen an illustration that depicts life before

many people who did animation character challenges
on social media. This in turn kept the laws in tact.

and after COVID-19 on social media. While everyone’s

In the same year, a law to promote animation was

lives changed due to the pandemic, there were animation creators whose lifestyle did not change. I believe

announced and the animation promotion committee
was started. In addition, there are now opportunities

creators’lifestyles won’t really change if they havetheir own space to make their own creations.

to talk about measures and ideas regarding animation

However, these creators did not repeat the same

the Korean Film Council, where members talk about
how to support the industry and what measures

type of work as before the pandemic. Director Kim
Jinman, a creator who used experimental methods
and ojbects to create philosophical works, has now
started posting cute videos on YouTube. Director Jeon
Seungbae is also looking for a new audience as he creates picture books based off his animations. Director
Kang Minji established her studio, Frame by Frame,
where she plans collaborations with other creatorsand co-produces work with them. Hong Jun-pyo directed his first full-length work, which was released
last year despite having only created short films prior.
Music Director Kim Dongwook, having created musicfor independent animations, is now receiving attention
for his work on Netflix’s Hellbound.Lee Kyung-hwa hasinterviewed creators and wrote books. She has now
changed the book format to a web magazine format,
introducing creators from South Korea. Independent
animation creators have taken this time to expand
their horizons and their areas of expertise.
It is not only the creators themselves that haveexperienced changed but also the environment for animation creation in the country as well. South Korean
animation meant for the masses was mostly aimed
at children. However, online platforms such as OTT
platforms and YouTube, which grew quickly during
the pandemic, started to create content aimed at older
demographics. Companies which created children’s
animation before are now starting to experiment. The
success of Beauty Water, released in 2020, has significant meaning in comparison to the lack of audiences
for children’s animation during the pandemic.
Although meeting people has become harder042

the laws to safeguard the South Korean animationindustry were going to disappear, animation organizations released a statement, which was supported byworks. A subcommittee for animation was created inshould be implemented. They then created a networkof companies that distribute short films, solve problems that arise from distributing those short films andsafeguard the rights of creators. In addition, film festivals that take place in Seoul come together to propose
ideas to the city of Seoul, safeguarding the budgets sothat those film festivals can take place. Such activities
did not only take place in the animation industry but
also with other genres of film and the people involvedin those genres as well. It was an active time foreveryone involved, much more than usual.
It might have seemed like all activities stopped
during the pandemic but the animation industry inSouth Korea was busier than usual. In addition tocontinuing those activities, the industry has expanded
its reach and adapted to new changes.

East Asia: China

Education InstituteArchivist

The Animation
Department,
School of Film andAnimation,
China Academy of Art

Guangchao Fu(Kongzang Animation &Comics Archive)

Reason for recommendation

Guangchao Fu is an archivist who
specializes and researches animation
history. Over a long period of time,
he has collected Chinese animation
documents and documents regarding
oral traditions, organizing them andputting effort into researching them.
He works to revive and restore China’s
animations from the previous century
via interviews with the old generation
staff, animation creators and theirfamilies. Guangchao is in charge ofan oral history program titled, “WhatIt Means To Be an Animator.”

StudioBenlai Pictures
Reason for recommendation

In order to raise the children of China
with heart, tell them stories of loveand show what aesthetics are, Benial
Pictures has endeavored in creating
animation for children. The studio,
uninfluenced by what the market likes
or dislikes, takes risks and delves
deep in finding out the possibilities ofcreating high-quality animations withindependent animation directors. In
2021, the studio started up plans forand invested in full-length animation
film, To the Bright Side, showing theworld China’s independent animation
directors.

｜

東アジア 中国

For the past two years, many students
from this school and their works
have received positive attention frominternational animation festivals.
The school has actively updated its
educational principles to further develop their students’ creativity, which
includes actively inviting foreign
specialists to guide their students. In
addition, the school has started theWest Lake International Animation
Festival, which specializes in animation learning research, in order to fillin the gap that the field currently has.

Reason for recommendation

Yantong Zhu
Feinaki Beijing Animation Week Artistic Director

043

Recommended by

Report ｜ Yantong Zhu

What has the animation industry in China beenoutside of their main job. In comparison to live-action

like for the past two years? What sort of effects has
the pandemic had on the industry?

films, COVID-19 has had less of an effect on animation

I believe the past two years has been a stageof recovery for the Chinese animation industry.The
Shanghai Animation Film Studio has been an important center for creation in the country, having opened

production. On the contrary, animation may have an
advantage during the post-pandemic era.
Ever since the release of The Legend of Hei, fulllength animation films have become more popular ina time of prosperity for the industry. However, in the
1990’s, as the animation industry started to move aJapan. Many full-length feature animation films aremarket-oriented economy, its development started tocurrent market for full-length animation films from
China, Ms. Zhu? You’re currently working on To The

plateau. This caused the level of quality in works to
decline. There were not any excellent works in comparison to the past. This continued until the second
half of the 2000’s, accompanying our personal growth
the whole time.
In recent years, both industry projects and individual projects have magnificently come a long way,with the industry as a whole having passed the plateau. Industry-wide, there were several high-earning,full-length productions that were produced. At thesame time, there have been independent works ofanimations with a high level of artistry that have beenrecognized in international specialized fields. One
thing that should be noted is, independent animation
creators have influenced the progress of the Chinese
animation industry in a positive manner.
COVID-19 has greatly affected box-office revenue for screenings and international collaborations.
Audiences are now watching these films online.
Tickets for online streaming and viewing are cheaper,with the goal of attracting more views than normal.
This is indirectly connected with careful investment.
Investors are more reliant on big data than unique,innovative works, having a tendency to invest in IP thatthe public already is familiar with or works that are
in a series. This tendency does not bode well for film
companies who have found new potential in original
Chinese works. We may gradually see the influence of
this in the next few years. In addition, COVID-19 has
made it difficult to go abroad and collaborate with theinternational animation industries.
Nevertheless, for independent animation creators
who do not follow the market, COVID-19 may not have
had such a big influence on their workflow. They
produce works on a low budget or produce works

044

Interviewer ｜ Nobuaki Doi

being produced right now. What do you think about theBright Side, but do you think independent creators will
also be given a chance to feature their films?
It is true that there are many full-length films
being released in recent years. In 2019, the film Ne
Zha, which featured the mythical Ne Zha as the main
character, had a box-office revenue of over five billion
yuan. Many film companies are continuing the trend,
pursuing success with their films.Many animation
films are increasingly featuring mythical charactersthat are widely recognized by the public. However,
only a few films have received praised from the same
public. In the past two years, realistic films haveincreased in number in the country, despite being
smaller in number in comparison to mythologicalfilms. Regardless, this trend shows the increasing
diversity of the market.
Independent creators have been given opportunities
for their work. Film companies have an increasingneed for original content and within this need, somecompanies do not want to copy Hollywood or animefrom Japan. Such companies then turned their focus
on independent creators. Society at large has gradually focused their attention on independent creatorsthemselves through animation events including us,
Feinaki, and media coverage in recent years. There aresome people who believe that the future of trends inanimation lie in the independent industry. To the BrightSide, based off picture books for children, is one such
experiment. Benlai Pictures, a children’s animation
studio that has invested in film works, offered me a
job as an executive producer. They highly evaluate
independent creators and believe that we are perfectfor creating original children’s animation content.
A few years back, one work that exemplified thiswas full-length feature Have a Nice Day, directed by Liu

wonderfully successful, with some works being

Jian. Despite the fact that it was aimed toward an older
demographic, it also received business investment. Of

selected for the Annecy International Animation Film
Festival, drawing in attention from all over China.

course at this stage, it cannot be really called a trend
but rather an individual case of such happenings. The

One trend that we’ve seen is that there are crea-

marketing issues that these works face is still verylarge and we are still unsure if such productions will

tors that are active in the modern art domain. It seems
to be a peculiar feature of Chinese independent animation. Is that trend still continuing to this day? One

I believe as a Feinaki director, you are well versed

trend that we’ve seen is that there are creators thatare active in the modern art domain. It seems to be ain the current situation for short animation films. Are

peculiar feature of Chinese independent animation. Is

there any trends you’ve seen for those films from 2020
to 2021?

that trend still continuing to this day?
Yes. There’s a fixed amount of contemporary art

During 2020 to 2021, Chinese short animation
films have increased in number, quality and standard.

and animation that are mixing together. Feinaki also

There are several subsidy projects by local governments that have started to help independent creators.

being shown. Ten or so years ago, the animation industry plateaued but contemporary art students who

Online platforms such as Bilibili have also started
investing in short animation films. I believe this has tograduated from art schools started to create works inanimation. I believe well-known William Kentridge had

do with the success that animation films have experienced in the market in the past few years. In addition,
many independent creators are getting request to

an influence as well. However, this does not mean thatwork on commercials and MVs within the past two
years. The environment and market for independent
animation creators has gradually gotten better as awhole. However, many short animation films are still
student projects, with only a few professional projects
done after graduation. On the other hand, there are a
few international collaborations with other countries(mainly France) among the professional works in thepast two years.

installed a display in the hall next to where films were

contemporary artists would always use animation tocreate something. They use a variety of mediums inorder to create a work of artistic expression. In recent
years, there are contemporary art creators who have
gradually stopped animation altogether or completely
devoted themselves to animated films such as Liu
Jian.
It is not possible to get the whole picture ofChinese creators just looking at what’s happening
domestically (Ms. Zhu, you have also studied in Japan).
What are some popular countries or schools that

Tell us about student projects. What sort ofaspiring animation creators from China would like toschools are available in China and what sort of education do they receive? Are there any student projects
that we should pay attention to?
There are many universities that offer a major inanimation in China. Art universities or film universities
both generally have an animation major, along withgeneral universities too. There are some universities
that have had great success in recent years such as:
China Academy of Art, Communication Universityof China, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing Film
Academy, East China Normal University and Nanjing
Arts Institute. I also teach experimental animation
courses at the Communication University of China asa part-time lecturer. Originally, the universities’ main
purpose was to educate young people to create art
for consumption. However, nowadays, they are also
starting to focus on educating the artist themselvesand not just focusing on the technique. Student workfrom the China Academy of Art has particularly been

attend?
Before the start of COVID-19, studying abroad
was very popular in China. There were many students
who studied animation abroad and created wonderful
graduation pieces. Although the pieces were createdabroad, these pieces had a large influence on animation within the country, particularly in the education
sectors. When I graduated in Japan in 2014, there
weren’t many students from China at the graduate
school at the Tokyo University of Arts. However, sincethat time, there was explosion of students from China.
Many students abroad have increasingly come back to
China in the recent years. There are many who study
animation in France, the USA, the UK, Japan, Germany
and the Netherlands. Gobelins in France, California
Institute of the Arts in the USA, Royal College of Art
in the UK and Japan’s Tokyo University of Art are
currently popular places to study.

045

be sustainable in the future.

Hiroshima Animation Season is one part of a newevent called the Hiroshima Festival. Its aim is to bringpeace through culture. Is there something you’d like tospecially mention in Chinese animation when thinking
about “peace” for the past two years? It’s fine to thinkof “peace” in very broad terms.
I believe the existence of the Hiroshima Animation
Season, which calls for peace, is very important forthis current world. One horrible thing that war does topeople is taking away diversity from those people. War
has had a strong effect on the media, making people
lose their ability to think independently and dividing
people into two groups: friends or enemies. We’restarting to lose our ability to empathize with eachother people. Independent animations are created byindividual creators, which have their own backgrounds
and fresh individual perspectives and expressions.
They are full of diversity. By expanding our horizonsinternationally, I believe we’re able to understand andempathize with people who are of different culturesand backgrounds. I fully realize the powerlessness ofart in face of the harsh realities of the world. However,what we can do while in China is supporting thoseanimation creators’ individual ideas and expressions
as best we can. While pushing for Chinese films tobe screened abroad, we should push for creators
to widen their reach internationally with their work.
This is so that people from different cultures andbackgrounds can see what China has to offer. I hope046

that these actions we’re taking lead to a more peacefulworld, even if it’s just a little bit.

｜東アジア 台湾

East Asia: Taiwan

Director

Educator

Wen-Ming (Joe) Hsieh

Chang-Jay (Jay Stone)
Shih

Reason for recommendation

Mr. Hsieh is an independent Taiwan
animation director whose works
often explore the dark side of humannature and filled with horror andsuspense. His films have captured
attentions in many international film
festivals. Meat Days (2006) was selected in the Pusan International andHiroshima Animation Film Festivals.
The Present (2014)
was nominated in the SundanceFilm Festival and was awarded Best
Animated Short Film in the San Diego
Asian Film Festival. He collaborated
in the production of No. 7 Cherry
Lane (2019) which won the Best
Screenplay in the Venice InternationalFilm Festival. Night Bus (2020) wasawarded Best Animated Short Filmat Sundance Film Festival, Grand Prix

Reason for recommendation

Prof. Shih is not only a longtime
independent animation director withmany achievements, he is also a key
person to promote in Taiwan contemporary animation developments and agreat educator till this day.

Best Short Film at Animafest Zagreb,
and received Public Prize at Ottawa
International Animation Film Festival,
and nominated for Best Short Subject
at the Annie Awards.

Director

Den-Yu (Fish) Wang
Reason for recommendation

Mr. Wang has been dedicated toanimation, script writing and comic
creation for decades. His works often
reveals the profound meanings behind the scene - sometimes hilarious
and sometimes political – which, inlong term, built up his influences in
the field gradually.

Chi-Sui Wang
Taichung International Animation Festival / Associate Professor,
National Taipei University of the Arts

047

Recommended by

Report ｜ Chi-Sui Wang

The interview is about the situation of animation

As at TNUA our education goal is always to ed-

in Taiwan in two years (2020-2021) but it may spreadto Taiwan’s animation history in general. Let me startucate young artist as well as per-production talentswith student films. In recent years, animation by
students is very strong in Taiwan. The driving force
should be Taipei National University of the Arts, where(though they are are also very good at production andpost-production), some of them seems to be recruited
soon after presenting their graduate works. Position-

you teach. Would you please tell me about your school

wise they mostly work on production team first but
soon move on to be more pre-production or teamand why you can keep producing amazing talents?

leader type of position due to their capability. In factThanks for the kind observations.I believe there
are many reasons that they eventually presented good

the feature On Happiness Road had recruited many ofquality of productions. I will point out few. Animation
Department at TNUA was established in 2011, separated from it’s original Department of New Media, in
expectation to nurture talents in animation. In orderto do so, we designed the curriculum not only in basic
technical training (2D traditional, CGI and experimental including stop-motion), we do also emphasis on
production supervisions individually. Supervision isessentially important and taking up most of our time,
as each student would have different take in their creativity as well as skill set. And on top of all these, we
had began to hold the KuanDu International Animation
Festival (KDIAF) the same year when department wasestablished. As you also familiar with, this festival isa professional international festival, so students not
only be able to watch all the latest animated films, butalso learning from masters face-to-face in workshops
during festival. Other important factors including peer
learning, school atmosphere (with all artistic disciplines), guest professor from abroad etc.
I am wondering what animation students do after
graduation. They work in the industry in Taiwan or any
other countries? or work independently?
Some of them went on develop their independent
career in animation, illustration, manga and otherrelated topic with great achievements. Some student
went in industry for commissioned projects.
On a professional level, what is the situation of
the animation industry in Taiwan? Do you have any
trends? For example, we see some unique Taiwanese
animated features recently. On Happiness Road was asmash hit in Japan and City of Lost Things was selected at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival.

048

Interviewer ｜ Nobuaki Doi

our graduates to work for them.
Animation industry in Taiwan will be a long story,
from being the factory for Hollywood and Japan inearly years, till recent two decades that new talents
sprouted due to school education as well as government encouragements (however this has been
yet another long story - government did not always
get thing right and other complicated struggles). But
mostly I would say that individual directors are braveand stubborn enough to pull through the entire project.
Not easy at all.
What is the situation of an independent field?
Night Bus performs very well in the film festival
circuit. The director Joe Hsieh has been making very
unique short films for a long time but I am wondering
how independent animators like him are surviving in
Taiwan.
Again, not easy at all. But as we were trained tobelieve that if one wants to be successful in his art,
one must endure all the difficulties. We have seem all
the independent director went through multiple obstacles and struggles. Though in system there might besome supports in place, i.e. funding possibility, awards
for independent productions, but it seems the infrastructure of system will always have space (a hugeone) to improve. However, on the other hand, we doalso have quite a good numbers of unique audience
specifically like those independent content. Therefore
the importance of film festival for the last few decades
is obvious, but the pandemic and online streaming didchange the scene a bit.

Southeast Asia
Philippines Festival

Animahenasyon
Festival
Reason for recommendation

I recommend Animahenasyon Festival
from the Philippines because it is oneof the few animation film festivals inSoutheast Asia that has continued
over the years giving animation theplatform and focus it needs despite
the challenging and tough climate.

｜東南アジア 全域
Leong Puiyee
Senior Manager, Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film

049

Recommended by

Report ｜ Leong Puiyee

Singapore

popular animation works are mainly produced bythese 3 studios: Les’ Copaque, Animonsta Studio and

The Singapore animation industry has a mix of independent works and animation studios specializing

WAY Animation. R&D Studio is an up and coming animation studio, creating works for companies such as

in VFX, 2D, 3D animation works. In recent years, anumber of young filmmakers’ animated works were

Walt Disney Company and Tokyo Broadcasting System.

selected at prestigious animation festivals like Annecy

Notable events and works from 2020-2021

International Animation Film Festival.
Notable events and works from 2020-2021
Cartoons UndergroundAn animation festival that started in 2012, with film

Upin and Ipin
Upin and Ipin is Malaysia’s longest running animation
series and it continues to run on television until today.
The series is about twins, Upin and Ipin and their adventures in a fictional village in Malaysia.

screenings, talks and panels.
Finding Pictures
An independent animation studio founded by independent filmmakers. They recently created a new
television series called Puber Teens for a local television network.
Calleen Koh
An animator and director whose last animated short,
To Kill the Birds and the Bees, won 3 awards at the2021 National Youth Film Awards (NYFA), a local youth
film competition.
Tan Wei KeongWei Keong is one of Singapore’s most prominent
animators. His films have been to festivals like Berlin
International Film Festival and Annecy International
Animation Film Festival. He is an alumnus of Berlinale
Talents 2022 and a resident at SFFILM FilmHouse forhis next short and feature development.

Malaysia

050

The animation hub in Malaysia receives strong support from the government, providing funding andfacilities for animation studios. The Malaysia Creative
Content Center (MAC3) is one such support. It is an
incubation hub for small and medium digital content
start-ups. The production of original IP is at a mature
stage, which allows the release and exportationof original Malaysian animated works. Most of the

Ejen Ali (Agent Ali)
A popular animated series and feature film about aboy Ali, who accidentally becomes an agent after using
an intelligent system device prototype. The second
season of the series ended in 2020 but due to its popularity, a third season will be released exclusively on
Disney+ Hotstar for Southeast Asia only in 2022.

Philippines
The history of the animation scene in the Philippines
dates back to the 1980s, with Burbank Animation
Studios (Australia) as the first foreign animation company to be established in the country. Studios like Toei
Animation (Japan) set up their overseas outpost in thePhilippines too and it has been around for more than 35
years. Toei Animation Philippines was involved in thecreation of the popular Japanese series Sailor Moon.
The first Filipino animation film festival, Animagination
was formed in 1995 but it only had 2 editions (1995 and1997). To foster the identity of Filipino animation, theAnimation Council of Philippines was formed in 2000.
It runs the Animahenasyon Festival which started in2007 and continues to this day, celebrating animationfrom the Philippines. It is the only animation festival tocontinue over the years.
Notable events and works from 2020-2021
Trese
Trese is a dark fantasy, horror animated series based

on a Filipino comic series of the same name. It is

Notable events and works from 2020-2021

extremely popular in the Philippines and was one of
the top rated shows when it was released on Netflix

Rendang of Deathin 2021.

Short animation, Rendang of Death, was selected at
SXSW 2021 and Sundance Film Festival 2022. This

Barangay 143
A Japanese-Filipino series about basketball that was

short film is created by creative studio Percolate
Galactic.

first released on local television in 2018.
Lanting Animation
Hayop Ka! (You Animal!)

An animation studio based in Jakarta with more thanAn adult animated romantic comedy film about a

10 years of experience.

perfume sales cat who is torn between her askal
boyfriend and a business dog. This film has a limited
premiere screening before it was released on Netflix
in 2020. It was officially selected at the 2021 Annecy

Nuasa: The Movie
Based on an animated series, Nuasa the film wasreleased in the cinema in 2021. The film had a goodInternational Animated Film Festival.

box office run in the theaters.

Ella Arcangel: Oyayi sa Dilim
Based on a graphic novel, this animation is set in a
strange community called Barangay Masikap where

Si Juki Anak Kosan
Originally published as a web comic, this is the firstboth humans and monsters struggle for survival
in a small portion of the big city. The film won a directing award at the Paris International Animation
Film Festival (PIAFF) and at local animation festival
Animahenasyon in 2020.

Indonesia animated series to be featured on Disney+
Hotstar.
HelloFestAn animation and short film festival that started in
2004. It is also part of HelloMotion, an educational
academy that teaches animation.

Che Tagyamon

2020 and ASEAN ROK’s FLY where she was given theBest Fellow Award in 2017. Her works often address
the subjects of diaspora, class, and memory in relation
to women’s psyche.
Animahenasyon Festival
Founded in 2007 the festival celebrates animationfrom the Philippines. It is the only animation festival
to continue over the years.

Indonesia
The first animation series that was broadcasted on
television, Si Huma, was produced by the State Film
Production Corporation in collaboration with UNICEF
in the 90s. With the digital era of the 2000s, although
Indonesia has continued to produce animated series
for television and films, the progress and development
is slow at times. With more animation studios being
set up, there is the anticipation that more local works
can be shown locally and internationally.

Animasi ClubA forum for animation lovers, with screenings anddiscussions of animated works. They also organise the
CRAFT International Animation Festival, which takes
place biannually.

ThailandThe first Thai animation feature film, The Adventure of
Sudsakorn, was released in 1979. Khan Kluay, released
in 2006, was a popular animation film and it spawned
a television series. The Thai animation scene is not
as vibrant since then, the market for original animation is still relatively young. The Thai Animation andComputer Graphics Association is a trade associationthat was set up in 2006, with the aim of developing animation products and collaborating with international
partners.
Notable events and works from 2020-2021
No Thai feature films were released in theaters in
2020-2021
Thanut Rujitanont
An animator from Thailand. He founded his own

051

A director, animator and editor based in Manila. She
is an alumna of the Berlinale Talents 2019, Busan Film
Commission’s FLY Film Lab 2019, Docs by The Sea

animation studio, Graphy Animation, with the aim ofpromoting the culture of animation in Thailand.

Vietnam
The government-run Vietnam Animation Company
was established in 1959, tasked with creating educational films for the public. It was the only professional
animation studio for a long time until a few animation
studios like Colory Animation Studio and Dat Phi Media
were set up in recent years, though the industry is still
considered young.
Notable events and works from 2020-2021
Con Chim Go (Wooden Bird)
Vietnamese animated feature that won the Golden
Lotus Award and Best First Feature Film Director
award at the 22nd Vietnam Film Festival, and theGolden Kite Award and Best Director award Golden
Kite Awards 2020.
Golden Kites Festival
An annual awards ceremony that celebrates
Vietnamese films and television series, including
animation.
Vietnam Film Festival
Founded in 1970, the Vietnam Film Festival is considered a major event for Vietnamese cinema, with award
categories ranging from feature films, documentaries
to animation.
Diana Cam Van Nguyen

052

Vietnamese filmmaker and illustrator based in Prague,
Czech Republic. Her latest animated short Love, Dad,premiered at the Locarno Film Festival 2021.

｜

南アジア インド

Director Educator Deceased

Raman Lal Mistry
Reason for recommendation

Prof. Raman Lal Mistry fondly known
as RLM to many in India speciallyfor the famed National Institute of
Design, Ahmedabad students, alumni,
and colleagues. He was from a rural
Gujarat and after his BFA from Baroda
M S University he joined NID as a
junior designer in 1969 and worked
silently as an animation faculty andproduced some of the finest yet unsung work of independent animation
shorts. He got National Award for
his unique experimental yet thoughtprovoking animation short ‘National
Highway’ on drunk driving and its
fate. He mentored several students(including myself) with his smilingface and encouraged them to discover their original style of work. His
unique drawing style remains largely
unnoticed due to lack of acceptanceof a variety of styles in the Indian
animation market and is still relevantin today’s time. His relevance I feelstrongly due to his mentorship ability
where students are working today,
and their work is the true reflectionof RLM magic to slowly growing
animation with Indianness from adiverse India! He also designed thefirst national television of India, The
iconic Doordarshan Logo with Ravi
Shankar’s music in it. In Chitrakatha’15
International Student Animation
Festival from NID Ahmedabad we
hosted a retrospective exhibition
of RLM’s work to acknowledge thisunsung hero of Indian Indie Animation.

Director Educator

Nina Sabnani
Reason for recommendation

storytelling from Prof Nina Sabnani
is worth recommending I guess
as she is perhaps the rare voice ofIndian Independent animation scene
where largely the nation constantly
animates under the mighty influenceof Hollywood templates! She is a fineartist from iconic MSU Baroda andthen joined NID Ahmedabad in 80’s
as a young faculty trainee and got
trained under Roger Noake, USCAD,
UK and more. She also got grants totravel across Europe for a wider exposure of indie animation storytellingas well as more in-depth study ofanimation academics, research, andexperiment. She nurtured & headed
the NID Animation department for
more than 2 decades and nurtured
the curriculum along with her colleagues both from India and abroad.
Under her mentorship various
independent animation storytellers
were born to lead the industry. Namea few are Late Arnab Chowdhury of
Arjuna the Warrior Prince feature
famed, Dhimant Vyas who worked
with Aardman Animation, Shamik
Majumder shined with Cartoon
Network & Disney to name a few.
She was also instrumental instarting the New Media department
in NID Ahmedabad and initiated‘Sutra’- Storytelling in the Digital Age
festival. She did her Doctoral thesis in
traditional form of storytelling from
India and kept on making films in collaboration with various folk & tribal
communities from India. She taught
in IDC Mumbai animation department
for some time till she retired. Earned
her national award for her film ‘Hum
Chitra banate Hai’. Currently she isworking as an independent educator,
researcher and yes still as an indie
animation storyteller.

South Asia: India

053

A colorful journey with animation

Recommended by

Sekhar Mukherjee
Professor, National Institute of Design, India

Cartoonist Journalist
Animation Artist Deceased

Chandi lahiri
Reason for recommendation

An unsung firebrand forever young
cartoonist, journalist and a self taught
animator who was born in pre-partition
Bengal and lost one hand in the freedom struggle. With his able hand hestarted drawing cartoons in an uniquestyle and mostly connecting withpeople of Bengal region with various
socio political issues. His commandover bengali language being a studentof literature and with an acute senseof local humour he earned household
name during his work career in 3
decades from 50’s to 80’s. He wasalways a do-gooder and man of ideas.
He has taken self initiatives to produce
a couple of animated films with ahomemade camera stand and withmuch struggle of self funding madefilms like ‘Biggest Egg’ & ‘Under The
Blue moon’ etc based on his own story
was broadcasted by National Television
in Bengal.He also ran an animation &cartoon drawing session on television
for children. However due to lack of
distribution, awareness and apathy thefilms he made could not reach a wider
audience nor it got preserved well till
Chitrakatha International Students
Animation Festival digitized them andalso felicitated Mr Lahiri. His contribution needs to be remembered and thisplatform can be a good one for bringing
back his contributions and can be an
inspiration for younger generations torecall these unsung gems.

Director

Vaibhav Kumaresh
Reason for recommendation

054

Vaibhav Kumaresh, founder and director of Vaibhav Studio has created someunique animated characters with
Indianness namely simpoo inspired
from his school teacher, birthday
ghost and more recently a series
named Lampoot. Extremely gifted animator with a perfect sense of timing
in animation, being a gifted classical
vocalist he also at times give voice andsound to his own characters. A graduate from iconic National Institute of
Design Ahmedabad this multi talented
and humble animator is an inspiration
to many younger generations of Indian
animation enthusiasts to follow his
path. Creator of original IP and use of
local humour is worth mentioning. He
is one I like to recommend too.

Director

Ghost Animation& Upamanyu
Bhattacharya
Reason for recommendation

Upamanyu Bhattacharya, a young
maverick animation talent who immediately after his graduation from NID
Ahmedabad specialised in animation
film design went back to his city
Kolkata and set up a studio named
Ghost Collective with a couple of otheryoung animator friends from NID.
They earned a reputation quickly for
their various style centric approach instorytelling and made a crowd fundedanimated short ‘Wade’ based on the
climate refugee topic set up in a dystopian Kolkata which has half submergedin the water due to sea warming where
tiger and human habitats got mixed
up. This film earned recognition in
the Annecy Animation Festival. Young
Upamanyu also earned a project fromAnnecy Project competition for afeature animation written, designed byhim titled Heirloom. He is a youth icon
for hundreds of animation wannabesfrom India.

Report ｜ Sekhar Mukherjee

we learn to crawl, walk, and run and duck and takecover and learn to tell wee little lies and the noble

with our journey further with a bit unwillingness toleave the institute and join the existing industry thatwas immature, monotonous, and stifling.

truths. Quoting from Joseph Campbell’s fantastic

Historically speaking, animation industry in Indiabook ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’. Not to mention I mean by gender neutral use of ‘Hero’, “A herogrew with many hiccups and in a scattered manner
due to various reasons. After the initial socio-politicalventures forth from the world of common day into a
region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are
there encountered, and a decisive victory is won: theturmoil during pre and post Independence era India
started seeing the new beginning during Nehruvian

hero comes back from this mysterious adventure withthe power to bestow boons on his fellow man”.

for India to see the establishment of many premiere

Stories of our life are always the same old survival story of individuals as well as in synchronization
with the other living & organic beings. Animation or
Trick film are one such beautiful medium which is
why I feel this task of writing this article is an honor
for me as a tried to be an animator then a festival
director and now a founding director of new design
school of repute, NID Andhra Pradesh!!!
The story I am trying to narrate here is how welearn to cope with the ups and downs and twists andturns of ‘Paradoxical Indian Animation’.
Looking back at my journey, way back in 1992, I
boarded the train to Ahmadabad, a sleepy western
Indian town from my beloved city of Kolkata in searchof animation dream and to learn the art of dreaming,
to join National Institute of Design where Animation
Film Design was the only authentic course in thiscountry which evolved from past with an embedded
philosophy rather than as a mere technical training
institute. I was in daze, did not really bother to know
about the destination as the destiny was overpoweredwith the urge to animate.
During this time my dream was also to become asatire artist who would survive contributing one’s very
own stories of life around with funny drawings.1992
onwards my NID days and nights were like magicand in that journey, I came across many a mad soul,those who came to seek the same knowledge. I got
intoxicated and enriched. The learning was always onas the campus was always buzzing with life. We used
to publish the student magazine, organize Film Club
screening & publicity poster, T-Shirt design, every bit
was original idea and we completely got soaked in.
After the student days got over, we all moved aheadera. So, the 1950s and 1960s were the golden period& national level institutes of professional and doctoral
studies along with institutes of performing arts, film,
theatre, and design. National Film Archive was set up
in Pune along with Films Division and NFDC (NationalFilm Development Corporation) aiming to fund, promote and nurture the great Indian storytelling throughthe medium of moving image. After few years fromthat was born the cartoon division of Films Division,
aiming to train and promote animation with originalcontent and design from India. During late 60s Clair
Weeks came from Disney to train animators at Films
Division in Mumbai, those who were supposed totake the subject further across the country...maybe
the NFBC, Canada way. But unfortunately, after few
initial productions of high-quality animation shorts
where early animators like Ram Mohan, Bhimsain,
V G Samant, Arabinda Sen and few more worked,
the animation culture could not spread across India
but largely remained concentrated in Mumbai and
Chennai. On the other hand, came the emergence of
NID animation where along with Disney we saw thecross influence of many others that made the NID
animation more of experimental in nature. During
60s came two Italian Designers Leo Leoni and Gulio
Gianni and under their guidance NID produced thefirst ever animated short named ‘Swimmy’, which
later during the arrival of Television became every
household name.
We all grow up seeing those amazing magic ofanimated storytelling like ‘Ek Chidria anek Chidia’(One Bird, Many Birds) by coveted animator late
Bhimsen the founder of Climb Film Media, and manyof us got hooked to the world of funny crooked lines,
which intoxicated our minds in much earlier days.
We also got used to seeing some of the animated055

Life is indeed a journey. During this long journeycommercials, which along with Films Division’s documentaries used to be shown before the screening ofand children book illustration to survive. The film wasevery film in the Indian theatres then.
But as a student of animation, we could not findpletely forgotten thereafter till we acknowledged hismuch of the written material on Indian animation academics though and it was the time when animation

work during the 2nd edition of our very own Student
Animation & Comics festival named Chitrakatha at NID
from October 29 till 31st in 2009. Tis festival I am still

could not spread across the country due to politicaland social volatility and uneven economical distribution plus added to that was Disney myth which gave

curating as a revised version of Student International

many to chase the dream of creating ‘Indianess’ with
crudely copied Disney characters which moved withformula of basic animation. I often encounter theHere I would love to narrate another story of yet
another unsung one who struggled to make animation films. This gritty woman named Late Ms Jayanticomment that Animation must be smooth and to makeit smooth it must be thousands of clinically drawn

Sen is the daughter of a reputed light designer from
Calcutta stage theatre Mr. Tapas Sen. She made hercopied cartoon characters, which again are American

living from writing about film and animation in local

characters in Indian costume! Moreover, whatever

Bengali magazines and newspapers occasionallytill she got a fund from a government run television

little efforts were on where in isolated pockets andthey failed to connect and evolve the culture for thisyet new medium of that time. So, without realizing thehard fact of the economic aspect as well as crunch of

Festival of Design Stories, which I may talk about it inlater occasion.

channel for an animation project she had proposed.
She chose a classical children’s’ story in Bengali, ‘

trained human resources, many an aspiring ones in

Kuji Burir Golpo’ (Tale of a Hunchback Woman) by therenowned author Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury,

the past, from time to time tried to make in scatteredmanner their home grown animation most of which
did not see the light of the day or made a one time

grandfather of the famous World Cinema director
from India Satyajit Ray. The film traveled here andthere for some time without much monetary gain thenappearance on national Television channel and neverit ran out of steam. The technical hiccups and poor
design could not make the film stay in our mind map
for long. Due to this flop the local funders stepped

resurfaced.
So, the first myth was, to become an animator
you must know the skill of making ‘Disney like’ cartoon characters and draw thousand of frames andshoot it frame by frame and add whatever music tomake it funny. Then the job market was limited to
Mumbai and Chennai. Also, the misconception of copying Disney like huge production lead to crude copy of
the west. Then came the poor distribution as well as
conservative market of the common mass with uneven economic power. All those were the large issues,
which hindered the growth of animation of various
kinds across India. However, many unsung from time
to time got seduced to this medium and ventured into
their very own story of animation.
One such unsung whom I came to know during
my Kolkata days is the veteran cartoonist Mr Chandi
Lahiri who started working as a journalist and a political cartoonist with some local newspaper in Kolkata
during the year 1940s till 1990. While working with
the newspaper he and his self-taught techno savy
brother created a home-made stop motion camera
and an animation stand. And with the help of one
early edition of the book ‘Art of Disney’ he got into animating one of his own stories ‘Under the Blue Moon’in late 80s. While shooting his film, he side by side
worked extra for his regular contribution of cartoon056

briefly telecast in a local television channel but com-back from their willingness to invest for further local
content These all were happening during the pre-internet era and during the time of mid 80s to mid 90s.
These projects are examples of premature deaths due
to lack of proper knowhow, fund, skilled professionals, and marketing. The story of funding local content
in animation largely remained the same across India
during that time.
From here I will try to go to Bombay currently
known as Mumbai, the commercial capital of India
and all roads of aspiring storytellers from rest of thecountry aim to go there. It is primarily the fairytaleof Bollywood with many success stories which pull
the young ones to sail there to chase their dream...
animators too are no exception. Narrating this tale ina very linear manner is impossible for me becauseof the complexities of the scenario and the layers to
the reality and thus this tale of mine is like Indianclassical music or bit like French New Wave Cinema,
where Beginning, Middle and End has no order.
So here goes the story of one bright NID animatorand his journey, none other than Dhimant Vyas, known
as ‘Kaka’ amongst close circuit, which means a respectable adult in the Gujarati community as he hails
from a stone carver community from Dhangadra, ajourney began at NID as a project assistant. Later he
got hooked to then evolving animation department
under the guidance of the then faculties. In 1989

the evening and from their both of us left for his homein Virar which was a two hour train ride and the train
was always choke a block as thousands of wannabeswith their very own dream chase, were going back to

Dhimant’s dedication, hardworking ability, and keenness to learn animation as a student fetched him aseat to a two- and half-year post graduation program

their shed far away from the work place. As it is theof Animation Film Design at NID.He was the third batchof Animation student as NID animation prgramme

a compromising one. Like his stone carver commu-

was formally launched in 1985. In the first lot, out ofseven students who joined the programme, only one
sustained the actual hard work of learning animation.
During that time access to the rest of the world waslimited, resources were hard to get, study material

costliest city to live in, most of the dreamers initiallymust take an affordable place, as the pay packet isnity, Dhimant himself is like a rock from outside andafter a year of Mumbai hardship he moved to many
places of India to work which ranged from teachingat a privately set up animation school ZICA as senior
animator, at an outsourcing animation factory Toonz
Animation and few others, then came back to Mumbai

was only few Disney and some other animation films.
Luckily NID archive managed to be built around this

to work with e-learning along with another fellow

time due to the blessed history of many great ones
coming and contributing their bit of experience likealways remained a solid storehouse of energy and nomatter whatever the work, he never compromised on

Leo Leoni gave the Italian flavour, Roger Noak camethe quality and that took him to Ardman studios towork for a series like Creature Comfort, Shaun thefrom then West Surrey School of Art and Design,
Ishu Patel’s NFBC connection gave NID the touch of
Norman McLaren way of experimental approachand added to that was the design education’s multi
disciplinary culture which gave us a unique way oflearning the subject. But the work method was still
the hard-earned analog way where trial and error
were the only hope, and which also was the best way
to learn the subject. I was lucky to get Dhimant as oneof my seniors when I joined NID as a student in 1992.
We all got into the crazy way of working day and night
and learned to get soaked into the world of animatedstory telling. On the other hand, as I mentioned earlier
the only close by Industry that gave hope to animators
to start with was Bombay where the grand father ofIndian Animation, Late Ram Mohan Sir was running
his classical animation studio named Ram Mohan
Biographic. But their method was hardcore commercial animation and the assembly line work. So, after
NID dream, when Dhimant sailed to Mumbai like manyothers, he started his professional animation carrer
with Ram Mohan’s studio. The shift from the sleepy
town of Ahmadabad where camel cart and nomadic
tribes laze around to the big ruhtless busy metro like
Mumbai gave Dhimant a challenging welcome to facewith. Maybe for many more here in vast wide amazing
subcontinent named India similar stories need to beaddreseed.
In 1995 when I went to Mumbai to process myfinal project, as our school does not have the facility,
I stayed couple of days with Dhimant and discovered
the challenge of a wannabe animation storyteller’ssurvival in Mumbai. I met him in his studio in Mahim in

NID animation alumni Manisha Mohan. But Dhimant

Sheep etc. After Dhimant, there were many others
those who followed the path to Bombay and started
their professional journey like this. My contemporary
E Suresh, who is currently a big name in Mumbai, isthe key one to establish Famous House of Animation
which became popular for producing original animation with Indian themes and characters as TVcommercials and channel series. It is at Famous only
where again another animation icon from India today,none other than Vaibhav Kumaresh (currently runninghis own studio with the same name) started his industry venture and produced many a wonder. Afterseeing the crazy and scary challenge, I preferred totake another path, one less traveled in India, that ofAnimation academics. I have high regards for all ofthem as my good friends and fellow animation filmmakers as they survived the shock treatment, shownenough grit and convinced a whole lot of investors toinvest in better animation. But those are not really a
big number compared to the size of the country like
India! For me they are always a live example andinspiration to share with my students. Today Vaibhav
Kumaresh another gifted animator who became afond household name for many with his amazing creations of Simpoo, Lampoot etc which needs a mention
here.
After my graduation from Master in Animationfrom NID in 1996 I went back to my hometown Kolkata,hoping to start a small animation studio and produce
rich local stories. I tried to survive doing odd jobs
and exploring every possible place with my script
looking for fund. By the way, during this time the057

western village of Gujarat near Kutch. Dhimants’s

digital technology had seeped in. So funnily enoughhyped the market with glossy cover to sell software

many potent investors showed eagerness to fundmy project but enquired about what software I will

understood subject of storytelling and as a result

be working with? They flooded me with questions like‘Do you know Computer?’ or with propositions like ‘Imany students ended up paying hefty but getting bad
education in some bogus animation program. A total

would like to make an Animation feature in 3D!’. Thus,
my hope for ideal animation utopia got shattered timemess was created out of misleading surveys, reports,

and again. Broken hearted I moved out of my city andin 1999 took a job at an outsourcing studio named

to this fire was the lack of good teachers, investors,
producers, counselors, and above all of awareness.

Millitoon Animation in Chennai where some of my fellow NID friends were already working. Initially I was

One of the crazy examples I want to share here is thatof the massive media publicity a couple of years backgreatly rejoiced at the sight of the basic animationand light table and punched paper and much to myabout o ‘India going to produce 100 feature animation

joy it was a new learning as Millitoon was a franchiseof a French Production House named Millimages
from Paris and this studio in Chennai fetched good
reputation of delivering quality output. So, before
every project the animation directors came downfrom Europe and gave the discreet description of the
project to us, the key animators, the local supervisors,
and the studio-managing directors, of whom thelatter had nothing to do with creativity though. They
were only concerned of how may minutes each one
was delivering in exchange of money, money and only
money!
But after couple of months, I realized that this isstatistics, publicity hype and promises. Adding fuelin next five years. We saw the frenzy of hyper technology taking over art and storytelling...
Next came the economic slowdown. Many suffered and lost their jobs. The mushroom like shopping
malls and parlours here suddenly look deserted. Callcentres are getting quieter. But it is in this crisis timein India that we are seeing the hope of revival of goodstory once again. The spectacle is out, the small isin. The young wannabes are realizing that animation
is much more serious subject than drawing superficial monsters or learning software. We are realizing
the importance of good education, which forms thegoing to be a death knell for any animator’s original

backbone of a good animation storyteller to build abetter country. The yesteryears mavericks stood firm
and tall and due to their rock-solid belief and theirthinking and creative juice will convert into mere fuelfor the factory to run. After a year of working, I got
tired and one fine day asked the studio owner that

pragmatic approach and the never say die spirit we
see the message spreading across slowly but surely
now. The young ones are looking for better education

what was his plan for the next five years...his answer
was to make more money out of this as he failed fromprevious business ventures like running electronic

to be a better animator. We teachers, the endangered

shop, beauty parlor and what not. I got the message
and packed my bag and moved out of it. During thistime, I met quite a bit of poorly paid yet ever-smiling,
self taught local animators, most of them were fromgovernment art colleges and some were from private
animation schools. We shared melancholic sessionsof world cinema, music, literature and wonderedwhen India will have a room for its original work?
Today I wonder where all of them have disappeared!
After Chennai, I sailed again on the unknown
river in search of animation and time passed by andtoday I am working with my Alma Mater, NID for thelast seven years and when I see the green horns
today, I feel hope is still there. Life is full of anecdotes
and the animation anecdote from Indian subcontinent
can go on and on. Most of the sensitive animators got
tired seeing animation business seep in as the wrong
concept of assembly line factory like production, andalong with the IT boom the short-sighted investors058

giving a completely wrong image of this often-mis-

ones are keeping our fingers crossed and hopingthat this decade will see the beginning of the new
era where ‘India’s animation survival kids’ will show
us the way to new shining path and teach the young
ones the trick to survival of trick film making. And
today with the advent of digital technology an IOT and
OTT platform it’s showing a silver lining for Indian
Animation original content a sign of life, a hope.
I know it is not easy to be neutral and write a candid story about anything and everything from India...
the country that survived many an invasion and welcomed everyone with a smiling face and accepted new
cultures with such warmth. The happier side of thestory is India is now a boiling pot of new stories whichanimation world is yet to see ...some of the glimpses
we are seeing from the genius of Vaibhav Kumaresh’scommercials and Music television promos and insome of the works of students from NID and few otherschools across the country. Vaibhab’s characters like
Simpoo-a Sikh school teacher or the Birthday Bhoot(Ghost) or the Ooga Booga promo series where agroup of pre-historic cavemen play cricket among thethe glossy and the elegant but rather the stories ofJurassic predators...speak volumes about his styleso uniquely recognizable which perhaps give hope todane, the meeting and the separation, of the joy andthe struggle and the grit, the everyday and the mun-animated storytelling from India and to explore their

the euphoria, and above all of hope and aspirations...I
am sure soon we will discover our very own icons ofown styles. We saw many studios close down, shove
the promising animation projects under the carpet,

animated storytelling from this more than five thousand year young subcontinent!

leaving many heart broken but nevertheless continue
their daily mundane work to pay the bills to survive inI feel with the new world order, for animation the
newfound land is going to be internet, the liberation or

the big cities and still keep their dream alive.

big budget big brother dependence and OTT platformyoung ones to feel confident about the future of the

End of the day I still feel there are lot to learn fromthe past blunders and hiccups but maybe sooner orlater with the emerging new world order we are surely going to see the surprises as the aspiring ones are
getting their space...be it virtual like U-Tube or Blogor physical place like TASI (The Animation Society ofwill pave the way for more brave stories of various
nature will emerge from India, a great nation or tradition and modernity. By the ay not to forget I was part ofcoordination lead in making a cultural visit to Tokyo in2013 with a team of 20 odd Indian representative fromanimation education, studios, training, and research

India) or Chitrakatha-International Student Animation

to attend a 2 weeklong workshop with HIDA, Tokyo as

Festival at NID or the promise of International Coproduction. The new world order here is also opening

part of bilateral relation between Government of India& japan. The workshop covered the entire ecosystem

the many new project possibilities and already few

of Japanese graphic narratives. In this regard as
the director of NID Andhra Pradesh and also as anof the good animators are working with some of thesensible Bollywood Feature directors to do theirpre-production works, storyboards etc to help andcut down the shooting cost, character designs, Visual
Style & Treatment et al. The Department of educationin India is realizing the importance of animation andcomic book as a new way of learning serious subjects
like History, Science, Geography et al. And now withthe paradigm shift of post pandemic world I see agreater hope of young mavericks of Indian graphic

Animation Film Designer my sincere request will be
to look into possibilities to various educational andindustrial collaborations between two nations, where
Buddha plays a crucial role of a catalyst!
I will stop here with a quote from the great Indian
poet Rabindranath Tagore... “If you shut your door to
all errors truth will be shut out.”
Arigatho...
To be continued.

storytelling coming out with more daring stories of
personal narratives which blur the gender, boundary,border and religion.

059

I salute those brave-hearts from the near past,
those who kept the light of hope alive and showed our
younger ones a path to follow. Perhaps the new day
will be a better one where many of the unsung whom
I know, the ones who pawn their everything to money
lenders to learn the art of animated storytelling, livein shanties of the ruthless big cities, travel in crazily
jammed crowded local trains for hours to work insome unhealthy poorly lit studio, get poorly paid but
never deter from their passion and dedication no
matter how many times their talent gets misjudged
by the short sighted semi literate bosses whose greed
for money rule over the work... They cannot stop thefire inside those unsung and like the phoenix it is now
rising from the ashes and is about to take off. There
are individuals who are no longer afraid or ashamed
to tell their stories, the story of their everyday lives,
the story of the real India lived and experienced, notonly the myths and the magic, the mighty and the big,

Recommended byAmir Houshang Moein
Animation Artist

Director

Mahboobeh Kalaee
Reason for recommendation

I recommend Ms Mahboobeh Kalaee
due to her brilliant film The FourthWall, I’ve found this animated shortfilm so deep and impressive. As
the first film after graduation, it’s aremarkable step forward to find her
own world through animation. The
film’s personal attitude gives us hope
to see more exploration in her futurefilms.

060｜

西アジア イラン

StudioDocumentary andExperimental Film
Center (DEFC)
Reason for recommendation

I also recommend the Documentaryand Experimental Film Center (DEFC)
as a center for the production anddistribution of documentaries andanimations in Iran. In this centerhas been produced a large numberof short animations that have been
screened at various animation festivals. In addition, for its noteworthy
achievements such as all its supportof the Iranian animation community,
including producing animation
projects, helping to organize events,
workshops, as well as supporting thestudent projects.

Director Author

Maryam Kashkoolinia
Reason for recommendation

I recommend Mrs. Maryam Kashkoolinia because of her activities as
an independent animation film
director and her educational courses,
workshops for teaching traditional
animation technics, and due to hertact as a former board member of the
Iranian Animated Film Association,
Asifa Iran, in 2019-2021.

West Asia: Iran

A note from Asifa Iran’ s International Representativeby Dr. Fatemeh Hossseini-Shakib
Assistant Professor, Animation Department Faculty of Cinema and Theatre Tehran Art University, ASIFA IRAN Representative

As a state-funded cultural institute responsible forwhen Seyed M.M Tabatabayeenejad took office as part

supporting, promoting and funding documentary andexperimental film and animation, DEFC (Documentaryof a deeper structural changes, the centre has gonefrom strength to strength regarding its ever-expanding

and Experimental Film Centre) has come a long way

support and specialist attention to animation, including

since its establishment in 1984, in the early years after
the Iranian Islamic Revolution.

mation proposals and mentor the filmmakers, all along

launching pad for creative filmmakers who needed afree space and fund to experiment and establish theircareer as professional filmmakers. Later an extra
attention to less mainstream formats of filmmaking
especially documentary and experimental short films(including animation) gradually created what today
is a prestigious legacy of national and international
award-winning films and filmmakers, a body of morethan 1000 films along with many cultural activities
such as a well-known documentary festival (Cinéma
vérité), two specialist quarterly magazines, one ofwhich dedicated to professional animation subjects(Cinema Animation Quarterly) and sponsoring or holding other cultural events, such as The Second National
Animation Conference (2014).
But what prompts this writing, is the distinctly
remarkable role the centre has served within thelast two decades in endorsing and commissioning
experimental animation, in an age where many traditional state-funded institutes around the westernworld have stopped their support for experimental
filmmaking (i.e. the British Channel Four animationcommission programme). A supportive and influential
role that – honourably and justly – has been acknowledged, recognized and praised by the first edition of
the Hiroshima Animation Season Festival, by granting
the “Golden Carpster” award.
Traditionally and historically, The Centre for theIntellectual Development of Children and Young Adults(briefly referred to as Kanoon in Farsi/ The Centre), hasbeen the major supporter and funder of experimental
animation in Iran, pre and post revolution [*]. Although
Kanoon is still active, in funding and producing artistic
and experimental animation in a limited manner,and importantly holds the TIAF (Tehran International
Animation Festival), during the last two decades, DEFC
has certainly created a radically vibrant movement
within the experimental realm, by contracting andfunding first films of promising artists as well as MA
final animation films, on top of its mission to fund andproduce art animations of high calibre by the established artists and animators. In fact, ever since 2013

their way of production towards the end game.
The introduction of a specific Animation Deputy
within the centre since 2017, who was since thenattended by a pioneer animation director and a university lecturer, Amir-Mohammad Dehestani, meantthat the Centre’s commitment to building bridges
with the academic sphere was stronger than ever. Asa university lecturer and researcher I have observed
how this important move has mobilised our young animation talents to get funds and professional support
for their MA animation projects, and how the whole
discourse has positively impacted the quality anddynamics of experimental animation in Iran. Luckily,
the DEFC’s director since 2017 – Mohammad Hamidi
Moghaddam – is keeping up with that focused commitment in many ways; the best of which perhaps is theheart-warming act of adjusting the DEFC’s title to also
include animation, as ‘The Documentary, Experimental
and Animation Film Centre’.
As Asifa Iran’s international representative, I am
pleased to say that in the latest version of TehranInternational Animation Festival held in May 2022, Asifa
Iran’s especial prize was granted to Amir-Mohammad
Dehestani and the DEFC, for their successful, unfailingand continuous provision for Iranian experimental andartistic animation.
So, it is to our great pleasure and honour that theactivities and dedications of (now) DEAFC to develop
and deepen Iranian animation legacy has been recognised by the Hiroshima Animation Season Festival on
its vey first edition. On behalf of my friends and colleagues in Asifa Iran, the Iranian animation academics
and professional animation community, I express our
deepest gratitude and respect for your generous andthoughtful act and look forward to more intellectualinteractions between the Iranian animation community and the esteemed Hiroshima Festival as well as theJapanese long-standing animation culture at large.
*
For a detailed account of Iranian animation history, including
its tradition of experimental animation and its current status in bothexperimental and professional sector, please see: Hosseini-Shakib,
Fatemeh (2015) ‘Iranian Animation’ in Jahed, Parviz (ed.) Directory ofWorld Cinema: IRAN, Volume II, Bristol, UK: Intellect061

Back then, the centre was responsible to serve as aa professional animation committee to select the ani-

062

｜

オセアニア オーストラリア

Oceania: Australia
Director

Michael Cusack
Reason for recommendation

Michael Cusack is the rarest of all
animators, at least in a place like
Australia – over a 30+ year career
he has created a wonderful body ofsuperb personal/auteur films whilst
at the same time making a wide rangeof absolutely iconic, much loved andwidely recognized commercial work.
His commercials include those for“Schmackoes” dog food (probably recognized by everybody in Australia) andthe stop-motion variants of the “Louie
The Fly” ads, an enduring character
that has graced Australian TV screensfor many, many years. His auteur films
are superb examples of stop-motion
animation that truly breathe life into
his characters and extract the maximum emotional connection from thestories they portray. He is one of thebest stop-motion animators in theworld and his films have screened at
festivals too numerous to list. He has
also been a generous ambassador forstop-motion animation, offering many
classes, talks and festival workshops.
He has effectively closed his Adelaidestudio “Anifex” and is focusing on
more personal projects in a homestudio but his place and that of Anifex
in the history of Australian animation

this course focused on animation as
an artform and produced animators
who went on to make their own
independent films, occupy prominentplaces in the commercial animation
sector or take up places within thetertiary animation sector. Paul’steaching style displays an almost
unimaginable depth of patience andcombines that with a non-judgmental
approach regarding technique andgenre – this has allowed several
generations of Australian animators
to find their own ‘voice’ as animatorsand contributed in no small way tothe diversity of Australian animation.
A significant percentage of Australiananimators learned their craft andfound their feet in Paul’s classes. His
teaching methods have also seen him
establish a wide range of ‘off-beat’non-campus animation programs
that have seen students crafting animation specifically for planetarium
domes, small screens hidden in zoos
and VJ projects that have screenedin any number of environments andevents.
In addition to this, and perhaps all themore surprising, Paul has created
one of the most extensive bodies of
personal work of any animator working in Australia. Highly experimental,
this abstract animation is utterly at

is a remarkable one.

odds with virtually everything heteaches his students to create. But

Director

this work has screened at numerous
specialist festivals all over the world,

Paul Fletcher
Reason for recommendation

Paul Fletcher’s impact on theAustralian animation scene has
been profound. For more than 20
years he taught some of the best
emerging animators who studied at
the Victorian College of the Arts in
Melbourne. Over all of these years,

has been included in exhibitions at
a variety of Australian galleries andhas been the basis for collaborations
with musicians, sound artists, classical music composers and a wide
range of experimental arts festivals
and events.
Paul retired from teaching at theend of 2020 and with him went anentire history of teaching animation

Director

Annie Murray
Reason for recommendation

Annie is Australia’s animator to watch.
Originally an adult student studying
under Paul Fletcher at VCA (Victorian
College of the Arts), her work is developing and diversifying rapidly. Her
initial films from the early/middle
2010’s were bold, colourful and often
wickedly irreverent and were thetypes of films that would be readily
recognizable to any fan of animation
festivals. She still makes this kind ofwork but increasingly she is focusingon pushing animation into spaces
such as large screen commissions,multi-artist real-time presentations
and connections between animatedwork and static gallery style artworks,
particularly in the VR & AR spaces. As
a musician and artist, she brings manyof the sensibilities of those artforms
to the structure of her animated work
and while this can sometimes meanthat some of that work struggles tofind a natural ‘home’ or exhibition
opportunity, the outcome is usually
provocative and challenging to the‘gate-keepers’ of those spaces. Annie
is also involved in a number of music
video and animated documentary
projects and the best of those attempt
the same boundary-pushing agenda.
Annie is one of the true independents
most likely to play a major role in defining what animation is in the coming
years.

Director

Dennis Tupicoff
Reason for recommendation

In many ways Dennis has been theface of auteur Australian animation
at the international animation festival
level for decades. Changes in funding
for animation in Australia have seen
him reduce his output and change
his animation style in recent years
but the body of work that Dennis hascreated over the course of his careeris arguably the singularly most important and creatively complete oneof any Australian animator past or
present. He has also been especially
adept at bringing an Australian ‘tone’and vernacular to many of his films.
Two of his films in particular (“TheDarra Dogs” [1993] and “His Mother’s
Voice” [1997]) stand as the absoluteequal of any of his international
contemporaries. And only Adam Elliot(currently ‘locked away’ working ona feature film) would come close interms of the sheer number of screenings his films have achieved over theyears; it would literally be in the thousands. But for the lack of profile andappreciation that animation has as an
artform within the wider Australiancommunity, Dennis would be regarded by all as a great Australian artist
and a national treasure.

Recommended by

Malcolm Turner
Director, Melbourne International Animation Festival

063

in Australia. His personal work
continues however and his ‘semi’retirement promises to give him time
to realise ever more complex andinteresting personal work.

Report ｜ Malcolm Turner

What’s happening in the Australian animation
scene at the moment? It’s hard to say – and it probably

as a remarkable example of Indigenous animating inAustralia as are a number of the other members of

has a lot to do with which door you look behind. The
cogs that make up the Australian animation scene

the Regional Indigenous Media Organisations (RIMO)

don’t usually mesh together very well and in someways may not even really be part of the same machine.
I bring a couple of different perspectives to all of this.
First, some wildly unscientific observations
from twenty-plus years sitting atop the often isolated
look-out tower wearing the dishevelled uniform of
the director of the Melbourne International Animation
Festival (MIAF). This role afforded a great view but
the job was often to try and spot the very first sparks

dropped off at the base of MIAF’s tower.
Hope springs eternal.
But as somebody who has seen probably almost
every animated short film made in Australia thiscentury I have long wondered why more of them don’t
have more of a uniquely Australian look, tone and‘feel’. Perhaps no such things exist; a proposition I’mof a forest fire through binoculars turned around thepersonally not inclined to accept, at least in a generalist sense. Perhaps not that many animators care;wrong way. For many months of the year I would beabove the clouds anyway and couldn’t see the forest,
let alone the trees or any fires. Once or twice a year aa proposition that, if true, wouldn’t be intentional.
Perhaps there’s no demand for it; there might be anugget of truth in that.

group of people would swing by and drop off supplies.

The one caveat here is ... voice! For decades theAustralian mass media insisted that every voice heard
should sound quasi-British. This was equally, if not

It used to (and still does) amaze me that so many of thecreations these people made bore so little similarity to
the terrain I observed below.
OK, sure, a singularly recognisable or immediately identifiable “Australian style” might be a bit much to
ask for but where were the films that simply sub-consciously ingested the colours, the light, the heat, thesounds, the rhythms and the landscapes of Australia
and turned those raw ingredients into loaves and(magic) puddings that couldn’t have been produced
anywhere except for this wide burned land? And how
come so few of each year’s disciples returned thefollowing year with an offering? What was happeningout in that forest that chewed so many of them up eachyear?
None of this is to be confused with a call for‘Australians’ to make animated films that reflect
indigenous First Nation’s stories, culture or richvisual motifs. It’s 2022 and if we’ve learned anythingfrom the couple hundred years since the ragged
outcasts aboard the ’First Fleet’ looked at Sydney
and thought it might be a nice spot for a prolonged
picnic and a killing spree, it’s dawning on more andmore people that First Nation’s cultural expression
can only – and should only – come from those whosesouls are woven together by it. The good news is that
IS happening; PAW Media (aka Warlpiri Media) stands

064

group. Although currently a trickle, none-the-lesseach year has seen more Indigenous crafted films

doubly, true of the nascent 20th century Australian
live theatre scene. Even TV and radio ads – that mostpromiscuously adaptive of all media – were voiced
by people who sounded like they owned some sortof weekend estate in the British countryside. But
Australian animation was an early adopter of theAustralian voice, at least on the occasion when a voice
was needed. This persists to this day but it is selective – if the film focuses on a story that needs narration
the Australian voice is more commonly deployed thanif the film focuses on a particular individual, in whichcase the voice, as often as not, hails from a netherworld of accumulated and blended accents.
When I descended the MIAF watch house tower(apparently burning much of it down in the process)to focus on a sub-career in teaching I was – and remain – mildly fascinated at how often myself and mysignificantly wiser colleagues had to encourage ourstudents to clearly situate their graduate films in andof Australia. Indeed, when I look back at the threedozen or so graduate films I’ve watched come to lifein the last four years, I can think of only two that areclearly and unequivocally Australian.
Treading the tattered carpet and battling the unpredictable photocopiers of the Australian Ivory Tower

into why this should be. But it has provided something of a confirmation that, to a certain extent, theDuczynski as a name to take notice of in the Australian
Indigenous animation space and name-checks Bonnie
Forsythe, Rosemary Vasquez-Brown, Sara Hirner,commodification of education and its overwhelming
prioritisation as primarily a device for obtaining entrée into an ‘industry’ does not necessarily impassion

Isabelle Coury, Bel Holborow, Jodie Austin, Genevieve
Stewart, Jelena Sinik and Nicole Axiak among others

every student to devote three years of their life to imagining, writing, planning and crafting a ‘whole’ film.

the world”.
Her views about the current state of independent

There is zero demand for that skill in the Australiananimation workplace which is OK. But harder to accept

Australian animated shorts reflects the wider social

is the lack of acceptance for what a potential employer

as a “posse of great gals” that could collectively “slaychanges in most (hopefully all) Australian media.
“My main points would be [to note] the rise ofmight be able to gleam from that project as a hint toa wider skillset; a privileged ringside seat insight
into not just the technical skills on offer but also theinherent breadth and depth of the creative reservoir

strong female and First Nations directors,” said Deb

the candidate would arrive with.

characters, ecological concerns, the reframing of First
Nations’ history in films produced by and for First

Views about the state and the ‘accessibility’ of theAustralian animation industry vary wildly. Rosemary

Nations Australians.

Woodcock, who recently retired after decades as an
animation teacher at Melbourne’s Deakin University

recently. “Most of the independent work is coming
out of universities these days. A few themes that are
dominant at the moment are irreverent female lead“And although we still have a long way to go,
animated shorts are becoming more representativeof our population and culture. My students with Asian

had much to say on the subject when I asked her forbackgrounds, for example, have Asian protagonists

her thoughts on the subject.
Her sense that the power and integration of asmall number of increasingly dominant ‘industry

and feature Aussie Asian culture.”
Whether any or all of this represents dilemmas,
distractions or just a continuum of an ever-changing

standard’ software packages was having a homogenising effect on not just the style of films being
produced but the very thought processes behind thespace is hard to say.
Funding for independent work is precarious – tosay the least. Federal funding for shorts is a rarecreation of those films in the first place was one ofher keenest observations. Her concern that, in many
instances, course structures and marking rubrics

thing indeed and, in any case, criteria explicitly ruleout any filmmaker seeking it a second time. That is
not the way careers are nourished. Earlier this year,

used within the university animation training spaceforced many of those (us) involved to teach, makeand then grade animation more within the confines ofwhat had been long term funding for the Australia’s
only international standard animation festival, theMelbourne International Animation Festival, waslive-action filmmaking had a particular resonance forme. She worried, too, about the challenges students
face in finding employment in an industry she sees
as fragmented to a very significant extent reflecting,probably, a view held by many in Melbourne which despite having large studios such as Marvel and Method
is still top (or perhaps bottom) heavy with smaller,
more fragile collectives, freelancers and owner-operated facilities.
The sense of having a cohesive, structured andprospering animation industry seems stronger in
Sydney. Deb Szapiro lectures at UTS (University ofTechnology, Sydney), has made a particular studyof Indigenous animating and is passionate about
supporting and mentoring rising female animationstars. Her pedigree stretches back to an earlier career when she produced a couple of the more iconic
series of Australian animated films. She sights Jake

discontinued bringing to an end a 20 year history ofscreening international and Australian independent
animation in the country.
At the same time, festivals such as VIVID (Sydney)provide a platform for animators to create bold,large-scale animated works that are seen by a large
audience. And after a number of Covid-related delays,
Australia’s Oscar-winning claymation maestro Adam
Elliot is about to start shooting his second feature film
“Memoir Of A Snail”. All hints and sneak peeks suggestthat it will be absolutely vintage Adam.
Adelaide based Michael Cusack (inconveniently
Australia boasts not one but two world beating
animators named Michael Cusack) is busy wrapping
up shooting his latest short, a stop-motion film tofollow on from his recent award winning films “AfterAll” (2017), “Meanwhile, At The Abandoned Factory...”065

academy hasn’t really offered any particular insight(2020) and “The Better Angels” (2021). Michael isadmit to they have been the animation teaching teamprobably best known in Australia as the animatorbehind the utterly iconic Schmackoes dog food commercials, a much beloved series of TV ads that ran

at Melbourne’s VCA (Victoria College of the Arts): a

for years. He and business/creative partner Richard
Chattaway recently closed their Adelaide studio Anifex

they have taught successive generations of budding

and Michael relocated much of the equipment to alike animators. The films that poured forth from thatcourse year after year made (and continue to make)smaller purpose built facility at his home near South
Australia’s legendary Barossa Valley winemaking region. As he points out, the closure of Anifex will leave

Australians not just how to animate but how to thinka rather large hole in the availability of professional
stop motion production facilities in Australia but thethe case for the creative firepower of Australiananimators. And they did it with a patience and a willingness to coach that many teachers would envy. The
likes of them - a “one-two” combo that they refined tofuture looks bright for an increase in his personal film
production – and that is a very bright light indeed in the

an artform in its own right at VCA will likely never beseen again. But the fact they have been replaced byAustralian animation scene.
Reports also abound of a new film by master

Rosalie Osman and Christie Widiarto says that that

Australian animator, Dennis Tupicoff. It constantly
astounds me that I have to introduce class after classof budding Australian animations to his work.
Certainly within the realm of festival and independent animation, Dennis would unquestionably be oneof Australia’s most renowned, accomplished andacknowledged animation masters. As is so often thecase, his name is better known overseas than at home.
“The Darra Dogs” (1993) and “His Mother’s Voice”(2009) are among the most important, celebrated
animated films ever created in Australia. A new film
from Dennis would be something to look forward to
but the release of a book covering his life and films
this year is a highlight. Check out “Life And Death: My
Animated Films 1976-2020” published by Routledge
and available on-line... in fact the e-book version is infull colour!
ON the subject of books: Dan and Lienors Torrealso released a book detailing the history of theAustralian animated feature film “Grendel Grendel
Grendel” (1981), a gorgeously designed film by Alex
Stitt, the creator of some of Australia’s most enduring
and beloved animated ad campaigns including the“Life Be In it” (exercise/health) and “Slip Slop Slap”(anti skin cancer) campaigns of the 1980’s. Theirbook “Grendel Grendel Grendel: Animating Beowulf”(Bloomsbury) is an engrossing and yet forensicallydetailed account of how Alex Stitt and a small bandof artists created one of the more uniquely styled
animated features ever made...anywhere!
And finally, a poignant farewell wave to teaching
duo Paul Fletcher and Robert Stephenson. Each has
their own personal animation practice, in Paul’s case aparticularly prolific output of incredible experimental
films that pour forth to this day. But for more years
than these two probably care to remember or will066

course with roots that go back to the very earliest daysof formal animation education in Australia. Together

torch has been well and truly passed on to a newgeneration that will carry it far...and I’m not just sayingthat because they’re both now a couple of my bosses.

Recommended by

Marco de Blois
Curator of Animation, Cinematheque Quebecois

Director

Terril Calder
Reason for recommendation

Terrill Calder is an Aboriginal artist
based in Toronto. Her latest shortfilm, Meneath: The Hidden Islandof Ethics, has been a resounding
success around the world, including
a selection at the Berlinale. It is surprising that this artist, whose workspans almost 15 years, has only recently been discovered by animation
specialists. Meneath is characteristicof the filmmaker’s approach: puppets
with strong textures, a staging inspired by the frontality of the theaterand a subject matter where personalconsiderations are intertwined withidentity and political aims. Long marginalized in Canada and elsewhere in
the world, Aboriginal peoples havefound a strong and original voice inTerrill Calder.

Wendy Tilby andAmanda Forbis
Reason for recommendation

Filmmakers Wendy Tilby and Amanda
Forbis are well known since their international hit When the Day Breaks(1999) was nominated for an Oscar.
Both artists are interested in thethemes of the moment and the fragility of life. Their most recent shortfilm, which I had the chance to see,
The Flying Sailor, seems to me to bea masterpiece. Relating the Halifax
harbour explosion in 1979, the two
directors tell how, in a few seconds,
a man’s life was turned upside down.
With a powerful sense of direction,
Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis create a dizzying and moving story, notwithout a touch of humour.

North America: Canada

067｜

北米 カナダDirector

Recommended byAlex Dudok de Wit
Journalist / Translator

Designer

Lindsey Olivares
Reason for recommendation

068｜

北米 アメリカ合衆国

I didn’t love The Mitchells vs. theMachines, but I thought it looked
great. With its bold shape language,
painterly textures, and experimental touches (like the 2D inserts), it
reminded us that not all Hollywood
animated features have to look alike.
The production design was strong,
distinguishing nicely between the
Mitchells’ lived-in home and the aseptic tech world. Credit to Olivares, theyoung artist responsible for it. This is
her first credit as production designer – I think the filmmakers discovered
her through her Instagram. I lookforward to seeing what she does next.

Director

Elizabeth Ito
Reason for recommendation

City of Ghosts, the first show createdby veteran industry artist Ito, isunusual in many ways. It was madewith children in mind, but insteadof condescending to them with poorgags and lazy designs, it takes theirperspective on things seriously.
We follow a group of kids as theyinterview residents of Los Angeles,
who are depicted as ghosts. Thereis no action, no wild adventure – just
exploration of the city’s charms. The
characters are largely voiced by
non-actors and the character animation is subtle. The show is refreshing,and I’m gutted that Netflix didn’t
renew it for a second season.

is a big step up from their first, bothvisually and narratively: a delirious
mash-up of ancient mythology, blockbuster thrills, 1960s undergroundart, and much more. It sometimes
feels like a darkly funny Disneyparody. Shaw directed, wrote andstoryboarded; Samborski directed
the animation; they both designed
the characters. They made the film
at their home in Virginia with the helpof local students. The US isn’t a greatplace to produce independent animated features, but this duo shows it canbe done.

Producer Sony Pictures

Kristine Belson
Reason for recommendation

During Belson’s seven-year tenure as president, Sony Pictures
Animation has transformed from asecond-rate producer to probably themost interesting animation studio in
Hollywood, with innovative films like
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and
The Mitchells vs. the Machines to its
name. Belson is a shrewd executive,
and well liked by artists and filmmakers. I think SPA will continue to evolve
under her. During the pandemic,
she suggested that adult-oriented
animated movies will become morecommon – the studio is already developing a couple, including Genndy
Tartakovsky’s R-rated comedy Fixed.

StudioTitmouse New York
Reason for recommendation

The New York branch of Titmouse has
animated on shows like Big Mouth
and Harriet the Spy, but I’m not mentioning it here for its work. Earlier
this year, it became the first studiooutside Los Angeles to join the union
The Animation Guild. This is a big

Dash Shaw and Jane
Samborski

deal for workers at the studio, which
has had poor labor conditions in thepast. It could also set a precedent,
encouraging other non-LA animationcompanies to unionise – which is the
Guild’s goal – and changing the shape

Reason for recommendationof the industry in the US.

Director

Shaw and Samborski are the power
couple of American arthouse animation. Their second feature, Cryptozoo,North America: USAReport ｜ Alex Dudok de Wit

from now on.

was COVID-19. Due to this, what kind of changes wasbrought in Hollywood animation?

Sony is the only major studio that doesn’t haveits own mainstream streaming platform. So far in the

The most obvious change has been the shift in the

pandemic, Sony Pictures Animation’s films have been

power balance from movie theaters to studios. Thiswas happening anyway, but Covid accelerated it bysold to Netflix or Amazon. I wonder whether it willgiving the studios a pretext for shortening the windowof theatrical exclusivity for films – something they’ve

stick to this strategy. I’m also amazed by how Pixar,
the most prestigious animation studio in Hollywood –maybe in the world – before Covid, has been completely

wanted to do for a long time.
The fact that animation production continued

sidelined at Disney. All its Covid-era films ended up
on Disney+ without a theatrical release, which hasn’t

throughout the pandemic also attracted a lot of attention in neighbouring industries. Suddenly writers,

been the case for Walt Disney Animation Studios’

producers, and actors from the live-action world wereinterested in doing animated projects. So far this has
mostly been felt in TV, where many live-action series

movies.
Do you have any trends in awards, like Academy

produced animated specials for the first time (and one
show, Paramount+’s No Activity, turned entirely animated). But it will probably have implications for how
animation in general is viewed. A few months into theand Annie?
Let me mention streaming again. Traditional
Hollywood studios, especially Disney, have dominated animation categories in the past, and this year
Disney’s Encanto is doing very well (bear in mind that

pandemic, Kristine Belson, president of Sony Pictures
Animation, said she believes there will soon be more

I’m answering this question before the Oscar winners
have been announced). But Netflix has been catching

R-rated and PG-13 animated movies as a result of ashift in audience attitudes.

up. Its most acclaimed animated film yet, The Mitchells
vs. the Machines, won eight awards at the Annies thisyear. Next year it will be in an even stronger position,

This question can be related to the previous one
but how influential were the streaming platforms?
Of course, it was a coincidence that so many majorwith films by directors like Guillermo del Toro, Henry
Selick and Nora Twomey in the running.
The rise of streaming platforms also poses interesting questions for award categories. At the Annies,
films like The Summit of the Gods and Wolfwalkers
have been nominated for “Best Indie Feature”, eventhough they are distributed by Netflix and Apple – twohuge companies with vast promotional resources.
These films are basically indie in production but notin distribution, so what are they? Also, streaming
platforms have allowed experimentation with formats:some titles blur the boundaries between film, special
and series. This is a good thing, but confusing forawards!

streaming platforms launched in the US just before
or during the pandemic. But this, combined with theclosure of cinemas, is what has given the studios somuch power to control how their films are exhibited.
Streaming is now front and centre of the studios’strategies. For example, Disney has been reorganised
so that movies are no longer made for theaters by
default – they are just made, then a team decides
whether to release them in theaters or on streaming.
Other studios have struck deals to send their theatrical releases to streaming platforms 45 days after theypremiere, which is much faster than in the past.
Animated films have been particularly affected bythis shift from theaters to home viewing. Streaming
is so beneficial to parents of young children – a family trip to the cinema can get very expensive – and somuch Hollywood animation is aimed at children. So I
think these films will be more likely to skip theaters

What kind of trend did you see in the realm oftechnology?
One of the most transformative changes intechnology in recent years is the rise of real-timerendering, via game engines like Unreal and Unity.
This has already had a big impact on the VFX industry.

069

I think one of the biggest topics in this period

Interviewer ｜ Nobuaki Doi

Now we’re seeing animation studios embrace thesethis period?

tools, which let them produce features and series
relatively cheaply. One example is Spire Animationof animation in Hollywood: growth (in large part thanks

Studios in the U.S. These companies will probably end
up pumping out lots of shows for streaming platforms.
They present a challenge to the traditional workflows
used by Hollywood studios.
Hiroshima Animation Award is a part of Hiroshima
Festival, a cultural festival for peace. In terms of“peace”, did you see any particular topics in Hollywood

to streaming) and fear (to try new visual styles, andoriginal stories that aren’t based on existing books or
franchises).
A buzzword we’ll be hearing more and more in
our industry: “metaverse”. Hollywood animation studios are starting to talk about how they plan to develop
their franchises through the metaverse, though whatthat means in practice remains unclear. What’s certain

animation? You can define “peace” in a broader sense.
It can include these concepts like diversity / inclusion /anti-discrimination / anti-harrassment.

is that people will be able to interact with well-known

I’m glad to see studios gradually start to include
more diverse casts of characters in their shows. In
2020, Disney – which once embodied conservative

at home.

family values – finally allowed queer protagonists in
one of its series, The Owl House. Katie in Sony’s The
Mitchells vs. the Machines is another example.
The problem is when companies embrace diversity in their productions while undermining it behindthe scenes. Look at Disney’s clumsy reaction, earlier
this year, to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. In
reaction to that, Pixar employees publicly accused
Disney executives of censoring “overtly gay affection”
in their films.
Did you see any trend setters or influential figuresin Hollywood animation in 2020 and 2021? (sorry forthis vague question)
I’ll mention one person: David Ellison, thesuper-rich CEO of Skydance Media. The company’s animation division, Skydance Animation, has expandedcrazily in the past few years – and that’s before it haseven released a feature. Ellison hired John Lasseter tolead the division shortly after he’d left Disney becauseof a #MeToo scandal. That understandably angered
many people at Skydance and throughout the industry,
but Lasseter has stayed in his job. It shows how muchmoney talks in Hollywood.
Since then, other high profile filmmakers have
moved from Disney and Pixar to Skydance. Great filmmakers like Rich Moore (Zootopia) and Brad Bird (The
Incredibles) are working on features there. I didn’t
think much of its first short film Blush, but there’s nodenying that Skydance Animation could be a major
challenger to the established studios in the years tocome.
Let me know if you have any keywords in mind
to summarize the situation of Hollywood animation in

070

Two words that I think describe the current state

animated characters in increasingly complex ways,
whether at theme parks or through apps and goggles

Latin America
Chile Director

Argentina Director

Hugo Covarrubias

Juan Pablo Zaramella

Reason for recommendation

Reason for recommendation

I recommend Chilean animation
director Hugo Covarrubias. He is the
director of the short stop motion
animation film BESTIA (Beast) from2021, which focuses on events andcharacters of the Chilean dictatorship
regime. The beauty and mastery of
the animation serves as a conduit
through which we reflect of theatrocities of the past and look forward to building a more diverse andaccepting society. This film appears ina historical moment when the Chileansociety is wondering how to proceedwith those still open wounds fromthe dictatorship; and helpes visualize
what needs to change.

I recommend Argentinian animation
director Juan Pablo Zaramella. His
animation work spans over twenty
years and has been important into
establishing an animation scene
in Argentina and all Latin America.
Zaramella has been celebrated as arelevant person in the artistic scene
worldwide and has recently been
incorporated as a member of theAnimation Branch in the Hollywood
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts andSciencies.

Brazil Director

Camila Katerreflects on what it means to be awoman and how a woman deals withthe expectations of society. CARNE
comes to light in a moment where
patriarchy is being acknowledged
and questioned; and uses a varietyof animation techniques to introduce
its audience into a personal, intimate
space.

｜

中南米 全域

Reason for recommendation

I recommend Brazilian animation
director Camila Kater. She is the director of the short film CARNE (Flesh),an animated documentary coproduced by Brazil and Spain. Throughthe voices of five women, Kater

Alejandro R. González
Director of ANIMA - Córdoba International Animation Festival

071

Recommended by

Report ｜ Alejandro R. González

It is an enormous feat, and a huge responsibility,

fighters, spicy food, etc. Due to the pandemic, many

to write about the animation scene in Latin America
in the 2020-2021 period, since the region spans overof these films were not released in theaters or had atwenty countries with interwoven histories and cultures. There is no way that any text would be fair todelayed release. Some of the features mentioned inthis list have been acquired for worldwide distributionby VOD platforms such as Netflix or Disney+.

all its intricacy, acting individuals and networks thatare being built and consolidated. Therefore it is ourOn the other hand, Mexican short film animationof the period that we are dealing with, escapes fromobligation to point this out to you, reader, before youdelve into the following paragraphs: please be aware

those common places and brings personal and uniquethat there are huge omissions on what you are about
to read.

views of the culture that feel more legit than those of
the feature films. Pixel + Dinamita (2020) by Fernando
Llanos is a pandemic movie, in the sense that it was

Considering just the Pacific Rim region of themade because of the pandemic: the director foundAmericas, the animation scene roars with intense
production in México, Colombia, and Chile.

himself in lockdown with his family, and in the needto keep his family mentally sane in a time of despair,fake news and an overdose of information, he started

MéxicoIn México we can find both feature and shortanimation productions in the selected years. In what
respects to features, the production company Ánima
Estudio had a highly prolific streak and premiered
three features: La liga de los cinco, directed by Marvick
Núñez; Escuela de Miedo, a British-Mexican-Canadiancoproduction directed by Leopoldo Aguilar; and El
camino de Xico, directed by Elvin Cabello. Other studios

072

also had feature production, such as Huevocartoon
Producciones with Un rescate de huevitos, the fourthfilm of a highly successful Mexican franchise which
was directed by the creative team of Gabriel and
Rodolfo Riva; Fotosíntesis Media with Un disfraz para
Nicolás, directed by Eduardo Rivero; and Koatí, aMexican-American co-production directed by Rodrigo
Pérez-Castro.
Mexican feature animation of the selected period
is heavily family-oriented, with stories that portraycharacters where you can easily identify both the good
and the bad guys, and align with the good ones. All
the films have a comedic tone, and the emphasis in
co-production brings along some Hollywood muscle
to the films, which favors their worldwide acquisition.
The animation style is mostly cartoony, using both
2D and 3D-CGI techniques. Most films show little tono reference to Mexico, but those who do emphasize
those “Mexico-for-export” traits: Día de los Muertos
related characters such as La Catrina, Lucha Libre

filming a wholly independent animation to keep all
the family focused. Therefore, the stars of the film
are the director’s children, who were 2 and 4 years
old when filming. Through a mix of live action, rotoscope and 2D animation Llanos gives us the story of“Pixel” and “Dynamite”, two superhero children whose
mission is to fight COVID in a planet where everyone
must stay inside. A mix of fiction and documentary, thefilm expresses the inner life and mixed emotions thatchildren had to overcome amid the lockdown, and thus
it helps to exorcise the fear that the pandemic implies.
Another short animation film from Mexico thatstands out is Tío (2021), by Juan José Medina. A
graduate of the Schools of Arts at the University of
Guadalajara, Medina has been involved with filmmaking since 1995. Tío was produced by Outik withindependent financing and received grants from
Mexican art – related state institutions. It is possible tolink Tío to some of Medina’s former shorts since they
all share the same eerie atmosphere, the use of stop
motion as animation technique and a tactile quality
in its visuals. Tío tells us about an event in the life of
Miguel, a cocky teenager who reluctantly goes to work
to the same coal mine where his brother formerly died,
and where everything is ruled by a devilish creature
called Tío (Spanish for uncle). Miguel finds himself facing an unnatural fantastic world where dead children
are forced to work in the mine, having been robbed of
their souls by Tío. The beautiful photography of Tío isboth delicate and theatrical, in opposition to the harshevents that are related. Before the film credits, Medina

students, victims from the LGBTIQ+ community, vic-

includes a title card stating that almost 21000 children
and young people have been victims of intentional
homicide in Mexico in the last ten years; and that theretims of sexual violence, drug trafficking, etc. In doingis an estimation that 30000 children and young people
have been recruited by criminal groups. In this light,

historical memory through animation. As in Santa’s

Tío is a desperate cry for reflection on the violence

variety of 2D, stop-frame and 3D CGI techniques, andthe interweaving of them aesthetically echoes the different voices of the testimonies captured in the audio,build a culture for peace.
Colombia has been an important animation outlet
for some time now, with a huge independent animation
scene that deals with topics of representation, nature,society, and violence. José Arboleda’s short animation
film El Intronauta (2020) uses a variety of stop-frame
techniques mixed with 2D to tell us the story of anartist that, unable to escape from a society that rejects
nature and is saturated with media information, generates their own inner space where they can be free.
Arboleda is a visual artist with previous experience inboth the artistic scene and in commissioned animation

former films, Relatos de Reconciliación employs amaking the film alike a patchwork that represents theColombian society.
Chile is a country where the animation scene has
greatly blossomed in the last 15 years. Educational
programs in animation in Chile found a place in university and tertiary schools in the first decade of thecurrent century, and in 2011 the Chilemonos Animation
Festival was founded. Although other animation
festival already existed in the country, Chilemonos
was fast to reach prominence and in a few years

Also, from Colombia we have Relatos deReconciliación (Reconciliation Stories, 2020) a featureannexed the MAI (Animation Industry Market), which
helped stablish links between the Chilean animation
community – heavily focused on the artistic side of thecraft – and the commercial demands of the industry.
Also, the 2010’s were a turning point in Chile fromanother point of view: a huge part of the society was
not feeling comfortable with the role of the state andanimation production co-directed by Carlos Santaand Rubén Monroy. Santa is one of Colombia’s mostbegan questioning and manifesting against the orderof things. This raised several cultural and politicalrelevant independent animators, who has beenworking with the medium since the ‘1980s from anentirely artisanal and independent approach. Monroy

movements, groups, and collectives that aim to makea change in the current situation. These collectives,
which exceed and go through the Chilean animation

is an animation educator and researcher who has
developed content for both Colombian and Spanish
networks. Relatos de Reconciliación began as a school

and art communities, expressed the discomfort of ahuge part of society, and began to question the role ofthe state. One of the outcomes of this situation is the

project for animation students at Colombia’s SENA, astate educational institution that provides tuition-free,
vocational training in technological areas. However,the content of the school exercise quickly exceeded
the scope of the classroom because of the social
nature of the topics that were covered: Relatos deals
with the memories of people who have lived along
violence and war in Colombia. Their stories are documented through interviews and brought to visualform by the many animation students and teachersthat were involved in the project. The educational andartistic project that gave life to Relatos started in 2015
and finished in 2020, with a feature animation and an
online transmedia documentary.
The Colombian armed conflict spans for over fifty
years, and Relatos de Reconciliación brings thetestimony of both victims and perpetrators of such
violence: Guerrillas, paramilitaries, social leaders,

recent election of the first left-wing President since
1973.

production.

Colombia

Chile
From Chile’s recent animation production, thefilm that stands out the most is Hugo Covarrubias’s
Bestia (Beast, 2021), a short film which focuses onreal events and characters of the Chilean dictatorship
regime that was held in the country from 1973 to 1990.
Executive produced by Tevo Díaz and with Cecilia Toro
as production manager, the beauty and mastery of
the animation in Bestia serves as a conduit throughwhich we reflect of the atrocities of the past and lookforward to building a more diverse and accepting society. This film appears in this historical moment when
the Chilean society is wondering how to proceed withthose still open wounds from the dictatorship; and073

inflicted on children and youth in México, helping toso, the film helps exorcise the pain of the Colombiansociety as a whole and builds a piece of communal,helps visualize what needs to change.

scene. ANIMA – Córdoba International Animation

Although Bestia is based on real events, it is nota documentary. Its narrative is centered on the life ofFestival, the main animation event in Argentina, turned
twenty years old in 2021. This festival is a meetinga female agent of the secret police in Chile that specialized in torturing women, specifically by training

point for all the Argentinian and Latin American

dogs to rape them. The cruelty of the historical events
finds in Covarrubias’ animation a medium that allows

Zaramella, one of Argentina’s animators of relevance,
was appointed as a member of the Animation Branch

us to witness the horrors that mankind is capable of,at the Hollywood Academy of Motion Pictures Arts andSciences. Zaramella’s career spans over twenty years,

and at the same time it establishes a distance that is

animation community. Also, animator Juan Pablo

necessary for reflection. Bestia has been screened
widely in the festival circuit and has been awarded

and his incorporation into the Academy is a sign of theover 30 prizes worldwide because of Covarrubias’s
mastery in dealing with such a complicated topic. It

animated artistic scene and especially Latin America.
Zaramella is currently developing his first animated

was nominated in the 94th Academy Awards in thefeature, under the working title Coda.
Looking forward, the future seems bright for Latin

Animated Short Film category.

importance of his animated films in the worldwide

American animation.

BrazilBesides the production of these three Latin
American countries in the Pacific Rim, there are also
relevant productions, people and events that should
be noticed when discussing Latin American animationof the 2020 – 2021 period. Brazil is a huge player in thefield. The 2021 feature animation Bob Cuspe - Nós Não
Gostamos de Gente (Bob Spit – We do not like people)
by César Cabral caters on some of the characters
created by Brazilian comic illustrator Angeli, andbrings them to an irreverent stop motion animation.
The film received the Contrachamp Award at the
Annecy 2021 animation film festival. Also, from Brazil
we should mention the wonderful short animation
Carne (Flesh, 2019) an animated documentary coproduced by Brazil and Spain and directed by Brazilian
Camila Kater. Through the voices of five women, Katerreflects on what it means to be a woman and how awoman deals with the expectations of society. Carne
comes to light in a moment where patriarchy is being
acknowledged and questioned; and uses a variety ofanimation techniques to introduce its audience into
a personal, intimate space. On a sadder note, thelong-standing international animation festival from
Brazil, AnimaMundi, could not go on for the 2020-2021
period, and its continuity in upcoming years is yet to be
defined. This is a huge downfall for the Latin American
animation scene, since AnimaMundi was one of thevery few relevant animation festivals that gave voice
to local productions.

Argentina

074

Finally, we should mention Argentina, a country
with a large animation history and a vibrant animation

GOLDEN CARPSTAR 2020-2021
Animation Scenes in Pan-Pacific and Asia
2022.08.17
Production

Hiroshima Animation Season

EditorTranslation

Koji Takase
Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (Japanese to English),Nobuaki Doi (English to Japanese)

DesignTetsuo Igarashi

Hiroshima Animation Season 2022

Organized by

Hiroshima International Peace and Culture Festival
Executive Committee
Presented by

Mitsui Fudosan Realty Chugoku
Supported by

Japan Keirin Autorace Foundation,
Association for Corporate Support of the Arts:
2021 Social Creativity through Arts and Culture Fund
Cooperation

Japan Animation Association,
The Japan Society for Animation Studies,
The Association of Japanese Animations,Embassy of Canada,
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan:
Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo,
The Quebec Government Office in Tokyo,
Embassy of Switzerland in Japan
Special cooperation

Hijiyama University,
Tokyo University of the Arts,
Sanikleen Chugoku,

Yasuda Women’s University
Cooperation for Subtitling

Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy
Cooperation (Subtitles)

New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival,
Skip City International D-Cinema Festival,
Tokyo International Film Festival
Cooperation (Marche fixture production)

Anabuki College of Design: Anabuki Gakuen
Sponsored by
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Foreign Affairsof Japan, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Agency for Cultural Affairs,
Japan Tourism Agency, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima
City Board of Education, Kure City, Takehara City, Mihara City, Miyoshi City,
Otake City, Higashi-Hiroshima City, Hatsukaichi City, Akitakata City, Etajima
City, Fuchu Town, Kaita Town, Kumano Town, Saka Town, Akiota Town,
Kitahiroshima Town, Osakikamijima Town, Sera Town, Iwakuni City, Yanai City,
Suo-Oshima Town, Waki Town, Kaminoseki Town, Tabuse Town, Hirao Town,
Hamada City, Misato Town, Onan Town

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補助事業

競輪補助事業
https://hojo.keirin-autorace.or.jp
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実施

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