Japanese animation festival comes to Glamorgan
November 23, 2011
Wales’ only festival of Japanese animation and culture comes to the University of Glamorgan this week, beginning with a showcase of short films from Japan alongside student animation work.
The second annual Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival starts on November 25th at the university’s Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI).
Animated shorts including Magnifying Glass by Kotaro Sato, Many Go Round by Yoshihisa Nakanishi and Aquatic Language by Yasuhiro Yoshiura will be shown in the ATRiuM cinema (CB205) from 6pm. Some of the best work created by CCI students will also be screened, including this year’s major collaborative project Day 83.
The event will also feature comic stalls from 3pm and a raffle. Proceeds from the raffle will be used to support the Muslin Squares Project which provides mothers in tsunami-hit areas of Japan with multi-purpose cloth pieces which can be used to help feed and clean babies. Prizes in the raffle include a stop-motion animation armature and software packages, as well as Anime DVDs and a range of Welsh and Japanese-themed items.
Gina Carpenter is a technical officer at CCI, and has worked closely with the festival organisers to bring the event to the ATRiuM campus.
“It’s a great opportunity to see some really cutting edge work from Japan” said Gina. “There will be some really unique and unusual pieces on show and I’d highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in animation or Japanese culture as a whole.”
The Kotatsu Japanese Animation festival continues at Chapter Arts on Saturday 26th November with Anime screenings, a Japanese marketplace, calligraphy classes and more.
Find out more about Kotatsu at the festival website.
Image: Little Samurai by Sarah Davies (MA Animation)
