Animateka on the Island

The third edition of Isola Cinema Festival brings along a strategic partnership of Isola Cinema and Animateka festivals. Two years ago, we had focused our programme on the contemporary production of South Korean animated films; last year, we took the visitors for a trip around the world. The films of the upcoming (upcoming) edition come - with the exception of two Russian films - from Southeast Asia.

The programme was conceived so as to allow great diversity in terms of authors, artistic expression, animation tehniques and narration. We paid particular attention to young creators, which are presented side by side with well known and established names of the trade. As a tribute to the legend of independent Japanese animation, Renzo Kinoshita, we are screening his film Made in Okinawa (Ryukyu Okoku), a classically animated anti-war documentary, dealing with the history of military occupations of the Okinawa island. Kinoshita died during the making of the movie, which was finally finished seven years later by his partner Sayoko Kinoshita. Following in Kinoshita's footsteps of independent production is Koji Yamamura, creator of the world famous Mt. Head (Atama Yama). At the forthcoming Isola Cinema Festival, we present Yamamura's clasically illustrated, black and white adaptation The Old Crocodile (Toshi wo totta Wani), based on a story by the 19th century French story writter, novelist and illustrator Léopold Chauveau. The film bears the unmistakable mark of Yamamura's art: minimalist and flawless animation, dramatic fluidity and a humanistic undertone. Takashi Kimura is a fresh name on Japanese animated film scene. His intriguing and surreal feature-length debut Striking Daughter (Utsu-musume Sayuri) became a hit mostly due to Kimura's original computer 3D modelling, used for a bizzare depiction of Japanese fascination for sadomasochistic sex rituals. In addition, Asia is represented by two more young and innovative authors. Yeo Lee Nah from Singapur is not a typical animated film author, being also active in the field of video and short feature films. But there was no medium better suited than animated film to tell her story about a depressed anthropomorphic crocodile trying to adjust himself to the human psyche,. South Korea is Asia's leading country when it comes to the number of animated film productions. Park Ki-Wan is a Seoul student whose graduation film is an outstanding creative debut, paving the way for new types of narratives that became possible with digital technology. This film, which at first glance seems to be a clasicall animation but was in fact made using 2D computer digitalization, is the most internationally successful film in this year's Isola Cinema animated film programme. Los Angeles based Ukrainian artist Igor Kovalyov's Milch is a masterpiece in every respect. Its graphic imagery is superbly connected to its narrative structure which uses delicately shaped psychological character profiles to tell a magic realist story of a sad and silent family life as seen through the eyes of a teenage boy. Young Dmitry Geller, a Russian author as well, also tells his story without words. A Little Night Symphony (Malenkaya Nochnaya Simphoniya) is indeed based on Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the emotions and the rhythm arising from the music, but nevertheless, Geller has succeeded to make music come alive which in turn is made visible and comes alive through the power of Geller's expressionist drawing, which letting us in on his fantasies as seen through the eyes of a black stray cat.