Cardiff’s Kotatsu Japanese Animation Film Festival 2018 Announces Its Programme
The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival will stage its 2018 run in Wales from September 28th to the 30th with over 10 films and a number of shorts programmed as well as two guests from Japan.
It will open on Friday, September 28th at Chapter arts centre in Cardiff, with a screening of Masaaki Yuasa’s latest film Lu Over the Wall at 14:00. This will be followed Momotaro – Sacred Sailors at 16:20 and then the drama, Fireworks at 18:00. The day ends with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust at 20:50.
Saturday, September 29 begins with Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s film Mary and the Witch’s Flower at 11:00. That will be followed with another Yonebayashi film, Arrietty at 16:00. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms will follow at 18:00 before the day ends with a screening of the live-action adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul at 20:30.
The final day of the Kotatsu festival in Cardiff on September 30 opens with another Ghibli film, When Marnie Was There, at 11:00 and that will be followed by Psychic School Wars at 15:20 before the festival closes with Attack on Titan: The Roar of Awakening at 19:00.
Kotatsu has also announced it will host Tsuneo Goda and Hirokazu Minegishi, two award-winning animators, who will conduct masterclasses and workshops on the craft of stop-motion animation. Tsuneo Goda created Domo-kun which was aired by Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and Nickelodeon in 2007, and Hirokazu Minegishi brought to life the adventures Komaneko: The Curious Cat.
Running alongside the film screenings and the animation workshops will be a series of events such as a raffle and a Japanese marketplace which sells things such as food, model kits, video games and manga and other goods from Japan.
The action continues in Aberystwyth at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre in October with a selection of films from the main programme. The films and times have yet to be confirmed. Tickets are on sale for the films featured on Cardiff run over at Chapter.
