Foreign Animation Thread (Past / Present / Future)

[Piggles]

Taking a break from anime since I’m hitting the road again, and with Annecy the hots right now, I finally got around to watching my dvds of Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor & Other Fantastic Films and The Theatre of Mr. and Mrs. Kabal.

A Country Doctor opens with the titular short which had won a nomination at Annecy 2007 and deservedly so since it's a thoroughly creepy and Poe-esque tale. The other highlight is Mountain Head, which won the award at Annecy 2003 and various other competitions as well as an Oscar nomination (also the same year Spirited Away won the gold). Other than The Old Crocodile, the other shorts are random "nonsense" which are alright, but nothing that I enjoyed too much.

I didn’t really care for the Kabals much either. I don’t know if the animation technique has a name, but I liked it. But I got bored about halfway through.

In semi-related news, I also watched this which I found at a thrift store earlier this year.




Apparently, it’s a collection of graduating students’ projects and despite the crudeness of the art for the time, the majority of the shorts are pretty entertaining. I don’t know Korean, but thankfully only a couple had dialogue, most notably the 1st of the 2D set which is about a man and woman trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building. My favorites were:

511 Kinderheim - “Blah Blah” (their translation) - 2 boys at a cafe marvel at a man meeting with multiple girlfriends at different times.

Never Give Up!! Dream of Toys - similar to the part in Toy Story with Sid

Dust - 3 dust blobs try to evade a man trying to get rid of them

Money Carnival - in a world of living piggy banks, one attempts to strike it big at a casino

Salesman - a rabbit pitches a shiny new dishwasher and diningware with a glamorous song and dance number to a turtle

[Show spoiler]they end up being toy sets

There’s also one that involves a boxing match between a wolf and sheep and appears to pay a little homage to Hajime no Ippo.

The school’s Youtube channel probably has decent stuff but I haven’t checked it out.

[pikeman1]

I love the first movie, really looking forward to this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL6rUxTWl1g

[Zivouhr]

Not sure if it was mentioned, but there is a cat animated 1994 foreign movie called Felidae, about a cat investigating cat deaths in the town he moves to with his pet parent.

Felidae
1994 · 1 hr 22 min
TV-MA
Mystery · Animation · Crime · Thriller · Foreign/International
The grisly murders of stray cats turn the neighborhood’s new feline resident into a sleuth who uncovers a kitty cult filled with sinister secrets.
Audio Languages: Deutsch
Starring:Helge Schneider Frank Röth Mario Adorf Klaus Maria BrandauerAlexandra MinkUwe OchsenknechtUlrich TukurWolfgang Hess
Directed by:Michael Schaack


Really nice cel animation with subtitles, it sounds like German language. Free to watch at the moment on TubiTV in the US.

[Misioon_Odisea]

Alberto Vázquez (Birdboy: The Forgotten Children, Unicorn Wars) is back with his new macabre work of art DECORADO, his newest feature-length movie, based on his own short film with the same name! Showcased in the following article ahead of its Fantastic Fest premiere, you can now watch the creepy first trailer below. Not for younger audiences, but this is one everyone should keep an eye on! Spain ruling in animation once again.

Read more here: https://www.animationmagazine.net/20...fest-premiere/

Originally Posted by Ramin Zahed

Alberto's Vision: "Decorado," the new feature from acclaimed Spanish auteur Alberto Vazquez released its first trailer today. (Uniko)

Watch: New Trailer for Alberto Vázquez’s ‘Decorado’ Arrives Prior to Pic’s Fantastic Fest Premiere

More than a week before its premiere at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, a new trailer has surfaced for Decorado (Decorated), the new 2D-animated feature from acclaimed Spanish helmer Alberto Vázquez. The director’s third feature project (following Birdboy: The Forgotten Children and Unicorn Wars), is an expansion of his Goya Award-winning 2016 short. The surreal feature centers on a middle-aged mouse who begins to suspect that his whole world is a set-up — a fake “scenery” run by the powerful, faceless corporation known as ALMA (Almighty Limitless Megacorporative Agency). You can look it as Mickey Mouse meets The Truman Show in Fleischer-town.

“I’ve always been interested in addressing contemporary themes through fantasy. Metaphor and storytelling allow us to narrate from a different perspective, offering new perspectives on reality,” Vázquez told RTVE in Spain. “Animals, not being tied to a specific time or place, belong to all cultures; they come from fables, classic tales, but also from the origins of comics and animation. That’s why they’re deeply rooted in our collective imagination and are understood anywhere in the world. Furthermore, animals are more beautiful than humans in every way.”

(In Spanish only for the moment)

DECORADO Tráiler Oficial

The original DECORADO short film can be watched on the Blu-ray disc release of Birdboy: The Forgotten Children, currently very affordable for purchase (along with Unicorn Wars):

[Bubbles-11]

Viva Pictures (The Amazing Maurice, Night of the Zoopocalypse) recently acquired North American distribution rights to the South Korean adult animated feature Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning, which releases in theaters in Korean w/ English subtitles and dubbed on October 17th

Of note is it's MPA rating: Rated R for some bloody violence.

[Misioon_Odisea]

The Animation Is Film Festival is taking place in Los Angeles between October 17 and 19 this year, and is hosting screening of several prolific foreign animated films, key among them being Arco, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and Decorado, along with many more:

You can book tickets for the screenings on the Festival's official website here: https://animationisfilm.com/

Read the full list of participating titles and more at https://www.animationmagazine.net/20...e-and-scarlet/

Originally Posted by Ramin Zahed

From left, Scarlet, Arco and Little Amelie or the Nature of Rain are three of the big award season contenders screenings at this year's Animation Is Film Festival in Hollywood.

L.A.’s Animation Is Film Festival to Premiere Award Season Contenders ‘Arco,’ ‘Little Amelie,’ and ‘Scarlet’

L.A.’s Animation Is Film festival has unveiled the line-up for this year’s edition of the event (Oct. 17-19), featuring some of the most acclaimed animated features and shorts from around the world. The eighth edition of the prestigious event will feature Mamoro Hosada’s buzzy Scarlet, Annecy winners Arco and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, as well as L.A. premieres of Lesbian Space Princess, I Am Frankelda, Decorado, Chainsaw Man: The Movie Reze Arc, All You Need Is Kill and the Chinese 2D-animated blockbuster Nobody.

The festival, which takes place at the TLC Chinese Theatre 6 in Hollywood, will also offer “making of” panels about Disney’s Zootopia 2 and Netflix/Sony’s mega-hit KPop Demon Hunters and a special 13th Anniversary 3D screening of LAIKA’s Halloween season favorite ParaNorman— paired with the premiere of a new short The Thrifting (set in the world of ParaNorman). Audiences can also catch a special sneak peek of Phil Johnston’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits (Netflix) on a special pre-festival date on Monday, Oct. 13, with the director present.

“It’s with enormous pride that AIF returns in its role as the first opportunity for Los Angeles to experience these essential films on their journey to end-of-year awards and Best-of lists,” says Matt Kaszanek, Director of Animation Is Film. “This carefully curated lineup — featuring new works from animation legends alongside feature film debuts — is a celebration of the medium. It’s wonderful to be home.”

””As a founding partner, we’re proud to see AIF thrive as a landmark event for animation in Los Angeles. Each year, many of the films discovered and celebrated in Annecy find a new audience, confirming the strong bond between our two festivals. Together, we continue to champion animation as an art form that is daring, universal, and endlessly inspiring,” says Mickael Marin, CEO of CITIA.

[Bubbles-11]

Well Go USA has acquired North American home video distribution rights to the Chinese animated feature The Royal Cat, which releases on digital and home video October 14th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWqM3IBJyTw

https://www.animationmagazine.net/20...on-october-14/