The competition lineup of the third annual Animation Is Film Festival has been revealed, with 10 internationally acclaimed animated features set to screen at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood (Oct. 18-20).
Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering with You has been selected as the opening film. Recently picked as Japan’s entry for the Best International Feature Oscar race and set to be released by GKIDS, the film follows a rural high school boy who runs away to Tokyo, where both his prospects and the weather turn gloomy. Things change when he meets an unusual orphan girl who seems to be able to manipulate the weather. Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura (Your Name.) are expected to attend.
The closing film will be French Cannes Critics Week prize winner I Lost My Body, with director Jeremy Clapin (Skhizein) and producer Marc du Pontavice (Xilam Animation) attending. Based on a novel by Guillaume Laurent, the surreally romantic pic follows the adventures of a disembodied hand through the nooks and crannies of Paris on a quest to reunite with its person.
Animation Is Film 2019 Competition:
- Weathering with You (dir. Makoto Shinkai, prod. Genki Kawamura, Japan)
- I Lost My Body (dir. Jeremy Clapin, prod. Marc du Pontavice, France)
- Bombay Rose (dir. Gitanjali Rao, India/U.K./France/Qatar)
- Children of the Sea (dir. Ayumi Watanabe, Japan)
- Marona’s Fantastic Tale (dir. Anca Damian, France/Romania/Belgium)
- No. 7 Cherry Lane (dir. Yonfan, Hong Kong SAR China)
- Ride Your Wave (dir. Masaaki Yuasa, Japan)
- She (dir. Shengwei Zhou, China)
- The Swallows of Kabul (dir. Zabou Breitman & Elea Gobbe-Mellevec, France)
- White Snake (dir. Amp Wong & Ji Zhao, China)
Animation Is Film will present a grand prize, special jury prize and audience award, under the auspices of Jury Chair Peter Debruge (Variety). In addition to the official competition, the festival will offer special screenings, retrospectives, shorts, panels and presentations, among them:
- A behind-the-scenes presentation of Disney’s Frozen 2
- Behind-the-scenes presentation of Netflix’s Klaus
- Special screening/panel discussion of Ne Zha (China),
- Screening of Rebecca Sugar’s Steven Universe the Movie (Cartoon Network)
- A presentation of Best of Annecy: Women Director Showcase.
- Free family screening of Sony Pictures Animation’s acclaimed new short Hair Love (with director/writer/producer Matthew A. Cherry, director Everett Downing Jr. and producer Karen Rupert Toliver)
- Free family presentation and screening of Magic Light Pictures’ acclaimed animated special Zog (with director Max Lang).
GKIDS and AIF founder Eric Beckman said, “In partnership with Annecy, we are thrilled to present our third annual slate of amazing animated filmmaking from around the world. The range of artistry on display this year for LA audiences is truly remarkable, from celebrated Cannes, Venice, and Annecy winners, to enormous box office megahits, to lovingly told personal stories. From self-taught, first-time filmmakers to revered masters. From expressionistic to cartoony to photo-realistic to provocatively experimental. There is stop motion, hand drawn, hand painted, 3D CGI, comedy, romance, heart-rending drama, psychological thriller, epic fantasy, and so much more that simply can’t be categorized. If anyone still suffers under the misimpression that animation is a family entertainment genre, the festival will open their eyes to the wide, practically unlimited possibilities that this potent art form is capable of.”
“The quality and diversity of the films presented at Animation Is Film this year reinforces Annecy’s satisfaction of being associated with an event that has already found its place after only 2 editions and is a genuine springboard in North America for the world’s best independent animation,” added Annecy’s CEO & Director, Mickael Marin.
For more info, visit animationisfilm.com
