TAAF2019] "Short Length Competition Slot 1" Report: With so many unique short animated films being made around the world, are Japanese creators really ......?

On Friday, March 8, 2019, the Short Competition Slot 1 was held at Shinbungeiza in Ikebukuro as part of the Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2019 (TAAF2019) program.

In this program, short animations created by Japanese and foreign creators were screened together, followed by commentary by the preliminary selection committee members. In Slot 1, "Floriana" (dir. Lewis Morton / Denmark), "Alone" (dir. Huang Yunxiang / Taiwan), "Good Heart" (dir. Evgeniya Zhirkova / Russia), "Our Cosmonauts" (dir. Galina Golubeva / Russia), "Moyamoya" (dir. Elise Simlin, Edouard Hutte, Clotilde Bonotto, Anna Komaromi, Marisa di Vola Peixoto, Helena Bastioni / France), "Akong" (dir. Zozo Zhen, Tena Galovik , Marine Vargai, Yenchen Liu, Elise Ka Ying Zhang/France), "Quintet at Twilight" (dir. Jie Wong/China), "In Tranquility" (dir. Maxim Kulikov/Russia), "Beyond Difficulties" (dir. Ignasi Lopez Fabregas/Spain), The eleven films were "The Tree" (dir. Han Yang & Basil Malek / France), and "Mog and Perol on Molly Island" (dir. Tsuneo Goda / Japan).

The audience applauded each film after each screening, and some audience members even reacted with great enthusiasm to the unique films. The commentary began amidst such a great success.

The speakers were Takahide Koyanagi (Assistant Professor, Department of Animation, Tokyo Polytechnic University), Takahiro Komori (Animation Director, Shirogumi, representative film "GAMBA Gamba and Friends"), and Hidenori Kawashima (Managing Director, Crafter, VR Director). The talk was moderated and facilitated by Seiji Kano of the Graduate School of Film and New Media.

When first asked about his impressions of the exhibits, he replied, "Many of the works are interesting in showing advanced stories with an analog texture and dealing with modern motifs, which is contemporary. Also, categorizations such as 2D animation, 3D animation, and puppet animation are disappearing. They are using digital tools and moving closer to analog," said Mr. Koyanagi. "The boundaries of what kind of technology is being used are disappearing. Digital tools are being used in accordance with the style and style of the work" (Mr. Komori). Technology should be used to express the work, and they are using it well. The fact that the younger generation is able to create so many works gives me a sense of a bright future" (Mr. Kawashima).

On the other hand, he also pointed out that there were not many works exhibited from Japan.

In response, Mr. Kawashima said, "As a company, we encourage participation in competitions, but I think the competition culture has not yet taken root in the mentality of the Japanese people. If you don't make time to output for yourself, you can create 'works' but you cannot produce proper output," he commented, indicating how hard the schedules of commercial animation producers in Japan are.

He also encouraged students who want to enter the Japanese animation industry, saying, "Don't be put off by the fact that students from all over the world are submitting works for the Short Animation Competition, and participate with the intention of challenging yourself. However, he also encouraged students who want to work in the Japanese animation industry, saying, "Japan is a cell animation powerhouse. Japanese vocational schools only allow students to make 2D animation. In that sense, it is difficult for students to mix in here, because there are many techniques that save time and effort in 2D animation production, and therefore students have a lot to learn. As a result, the ability to think out of the box may be inhibited.

The talk stage closed with Komori's words, "It is important to give young creators the opportunity to experience success at an early stage and to create a system to support them.

The program highlighted the state of animation around the world, as seen through the unique short animations from around the world, as well as the issues facing the animation industry in Japan.