 
|
||
|
2000 Children's Film Festival ScreeningsGrandma and Her Ghosts1998, full-length, 35 mm, 80 mins, Taiwan Dou-dou arrives to stay with his scary old grandma on the first day of the seventh lunar month - the day the "ghost gate" opens, allowing spirits out to spend two weeks roaming the earth before returning to move on to their next incarnation. Grandma is a Taoist who knows a thing or two about ghosts. She guides new spirits after funerals, helps feed the hungry ghosts at the Pu-Du Festival, shows roaming spirits back to the ghost gate - and most important, keeps evil spirits locked up in urns in her back room. Young Dou-dou understands nothing about any of this, but he starts to learn fast when he accidentally releases the worst of the spirits from its urn... Directed by: Wang Shaudi 7:00 pm, Thursday, October 26 Jungle Emperor Leo (Janguro Taitei)1997, full-length, 35 mm, 110 mins, Japan At the foot of the mysterious Moon Mountain lives a white lion named Leo, ruler of the jungle. Leo lives happily with his two children, Lune andf Lukio and the other animals. All is peaceful until one day when a ruthless treasure hunter and his group come to the jungle in search of the moonlight Stones. Only concerned with making money, the humans have absolutely no regard for the animals living at the foot of Moon Mountain. The animals are opposed to the intruders suddenly storming their jungle. Meanwhile, Leo's wife Laia catches a contagious disease that is sweeping through the jungle and dies. Luckily, an old man comes to save the jungle animals from extinction with a special serum. In gratitude, Leo decides to become a guide for the humans who save them by risking his life on Moon Mountain The characters which were created by the late Osamu Tezuka in the 1940s appeared in a co-producted (with NBC) television series on US network television in the 1960s about the adventures of Kimba (Leo) as a young cub. If the characters or the film resembles the Lion King, it may be more than just a passing coincidence even though the Walt Disney Company has officially denied borrowing ideas from Tezuka's creations. If Jungle Emperor Leo is not familiar, perhaps Tezuka's other famous creation, Astro Boy will ring a bell. Tezuka, who passed away in 1989, was considered the grandfather of Japanese comic animation. Directed by: Takeuchi Hirokazu 7:00 pm, Friday, October 27 Legend of the Forrest (Mori No Densetsu, Part I)1987, short, 35mm, 30 mins, Japan Inspired by Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, Tezuka created an homage to Walt Disney. In this environmentally oriented story of the life of the forest, he has recreated the four stages of the stylistic evolution of the animated image. His work pays tribute to art and animation giants such as Max and David Fleischer, Disney, Norman McLaren, and Jiri Trnka Directed by: Osamu Tezuka and Koji Ui 9:00 pm, Friday, October 27 Tales of the Street Corner (Aru Machikado No Monogatari)1962, short, 35mm, 38 mins, Cinemascope, Japan Commercial animation is a very costly, highly staffed, and time-consuming operation. In response, Osamu Tezuka created a more personal, poetic form of animation using still-life imagery (posters, street lights) and employing technically ambitious special effects such as double exposures. Directed by: Koji Yamamura and the "Junior Directors" 9:30 pm, Friday, October 27 Your Choice! (Dottini Suru?)short, 35mm, 10 mins, Japan Raoul, an alligator, has a bad tooth, and also need a hair cut. Is he going to a barber, or a dentist, or neither of them? Madillo, an armadillo, wonders if he should bring an umbrella, or not. So, what is your choice? In this animated film, a series of events which need judgements, spontaneity and decisiveness of the "Junior Directors" continue to occur Directed by: Koji Yamamura and the "Junior Directors" Awards: Ist PRIZE, the Adult July in Animated Shorts 1999 Chicago Internationale Children's Film Festival; JURY'S SPECIAL PRIZE, The 4th Seoul International Famly Film Festival Certificate of Participation Awards; the 14th International Festival of Film and Video for Children and Young Adults of Iran ; the 7th ALTER-NATIVE International Short Film Festiva; Annecy 2000 Asian Panorama Section; 11th GOLDEN ELEPHANT International Children's Film Festival 10:05 pm, Friday, October 27 A Chinese Ghost Story - A Tsui Hark Animation (Xiu Xin)1997, full-length, 35 mm, 84 mins, Hong Kong - Japan Insistently requested, this version of the beloved life action film, A Chinese Ghost Story is the first full-length animated Hong Kong/Japanese production in over a decade is a visual splendor, as jaw-dropping and as exciting as the original. Once upon a time, in the land where heaven and the underworld meet, lived a young man called Ning. Ning the bill collector had a girlfriend whom he had only seen twice for two years. One day Lan married someone else. Heart broken, he mused aloud, 'I worked hard to get her, and (now) I'm working hard to forget her...Oh, c'est la vie." Ning arrives at the Vainly Beautiful City to do his work but finds himself surrounded by all sorts of unspeakably nasty creatures. There, he meets Shine who is the follower of Madam Trunk. She is responsible for bringing fresh human spirits to the Madam to feed on in order to maintain her beauty. Red Beard, a ghostbuster, came to destroy the city. On that chaotic night, Shine saves Ning from the hands of the nasty ghosts; then Ning saves Shine from the hands of Red Beard. The work is large but places to go are few, Ning and Shine together opt for the chance of a rebirth. In the best of all possible worlds, Shine and Ning would reborn together and live happily everafter. But......... Directed by: Andrew Chan Official Selection 1997 Toronto International Film Festival 3:00 pm, Saturday, October 28 (1 showing only) Lotus Lantern - Tentative1999, full-length feature, 35 mm, 80 mins, People's Republic of China Lotus Lantern is a centuries-old Chinese folk tale about Chen Xiang, who sets out to rescue his mother with the help of a magic lantern. With the magic lantern, Chen managed to defeat his uncle, the three-eyed god Erlangshen, and rescued his mother Sanshengmu, from beneath Huashan, one of China's most famous mountains. 2000 Cannes Film Festival winner, Chinese actor/director Jiang Wen is the voice for Erlangshen. Directed by: Jiang Wen 6:30 pm, Saturday, October 28 Laputa, Castle in the Sky (Tengku no Shiro Rapyuta)1986, full-length, 35 mm, 124 mins, Japan Laputa, a mythical floating kingdom, is sought after by Pazu, an ambitious orphan boy. One day, Sheeta, a mysterious, unconscious girl floats down from the sky and falls into his arms. An adventure ensues where the children are chased by pirates, government secret agents, and the military who are all after Sheeta's magical pendant which will guide them to the legendary treasure and terrifying power of the floating island of Laputa. Print courtesy of Buena Vista & Studio Ghibli Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki 8:30 pm, Saturday, October 28 |
|
© 2003 - 2008, Asian Media Access Privacy Policy :: Contact AMA Wednesday, 28-Nov-2007 13:56:45 CST | ||