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News

Animazing display of art at Robina Community Centre

By CMS

An exhibition of art from some of the great names in anime will be presented at the Robina Community Centre November 16-27 as part of the Gold Coast Film Festival Cool Japan program. Featuring work from artists Makoto Shinkai, Jun Awazu, Ryoichi Mori and Soubi Yamamoto, the exhibit presents the awe-inspiring nature of this uniquely Japanese animation in a way that will leave fans and newcomers alike breathless.
 
Cool Japan Gold Coast is a screen culture program designed to explore and experience Japan's pop culture industries such as Anime, Movies, Art and Design. It is supported by cultural partnerships with the Multicultural Communities Council Gold Coast, the Japanese Society of the Gold Coast, the Consulate General of Japan and is the brainchild of GCFF Festival Director Casey Marshall Siemer, Japanese Society President Nao Hirano and GCCC Councillor Jan Grew.
 
It includes new release feature film screenings, hosted workshops and an anime art exhibition featuring original art stills from anime films, story boards, posters and DVD screening excerpts.
 
“Based on the success of last year’s anime film screenings and anime seminars we decided to make a Japanese culture program a staple of the Gold Coast Film Festival. This is how Cool Japan Gold Coast was born. This year we have acclaimed producer Noritaka Kawaguchi (5cm Per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below) and also the CEO of international sales agency Carte Blanche Tamaki Okamoto giving free hosted seminars, we have an amazing free art exhibition, the likes of which you could expect to see in New York or Tokyo and also some truly exceptional films such as the Australian premiere of Makoto Shinkai’s The Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below which has been nominated for Best Animation film at this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards”. Casey Marshall Siemer, Festival Director Gold Coast Film Festival.
 
Japan is widely recognised as a world leader in cultural trends, especially in feature film and anime. It is hoped that the program will receive increased funding and sponsorship as it develops so that the Cool Japan Gold Coast can be expanded to include expert master classes, events designed to foster commercial partnerships and networking between Japan and Australia, music performances, autograph signings, dance recitals and fashion parades.
 
“This is the second year we have incorporated special Anime events into the festival, with the chance for fans to meet with our special guests from Japan, and learn how to be an Anime artist and film maker.  We look forward to continuing this program and growing the Anime component of the festival,” said Councillor Jan Grew.
 
All four artists featured in the art exhibition have vastly different visual styles, from Jun Awazu’s Computer Generated creations to Ryoichi Mori’s rotoscoping of popular comedic duos, yet there is an evident bond between the works that gives understanding to how this Japanese art has endeared itself to so many the world over.
 
Makoto Shinkai is a masterful director that has commonly become to be revered as the “new Miyazaki”. His works include APSA winning film 5cm Per Second andChildren Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, the second of which screens as part of this year’s Gold Coast Film Festival.
 
Jun Awazu is the director of Negadon: The Monster from Mars and Planzet, both films which screened as part of 2010’s anime workshops at the festival. His sci-fi works are nothing short of awe-inspiring, especially considering that Jun was the sole animator.
 
Ryoichi Mori is the creator/director of the popular manzai (a comedy style in Japan in which two comedians appear on stage, one as the straight man and the other as the funny man) sketch comedy Peeping Life. Featuring rotoscoped images which add to the hilarious and often sticky situations the characters find themselves in, Ryoichi’s work stands out thanks to its definitive style.
 
Though she is only 21, Soubi Yamamoto has already created what is shaping up to be a genre-defining anime series in This Boy Can Fight the Aliens, in which a single boy has the ability to stand up to an alien invasion …except he has lost his memories. Featuring a sharp, striking style, Soubi’s work will be instantly endearing to all.