As Fantasia does not only present live movies, here is a little overview of what animation fans could enjoy during this latest edition of their favourite festival… Sounds promising!
HELLS, Yoshiki Yamakawa, north american premiere
Japan, 2009, 117 min.
Why do the living die? Because they’re alive. And where do they go when they die? They go to Hell—but Hell isn’t quite the place you’ve always thought it was. Linne’s a lively teenage girl, rushing off to her first day at a new school, promising her mother that she’ll make a hundred friends. Oh, she’ll arrive at a new school and make some interesting friends, that’s for sure, but not at the school she expected. Not in the realm of the living, in fact, for a sudden traffic accident sends her through the gates of the afterworld. By the time she’s realized that she’s in the afterlife and that her new classmates are demons of hell and not just outlandishly attired urban hipsters, she’s already begun to make friends, make a name for herself, and catch the eye of the handsome, smooth-talking student council president. She’s also earned the attention of Headmaster Helvis—a fearsome red demon with the dress and manner of the King, baby—and that’s not such a good thing. Especially given that something’s not right here—Linne can bleed, which means she’s alive, and that will have some pretty serious consequences for her and in fact for all of Hell’s denizens.
Info, schedule & trailer
http://www.fantasiafestival.com/2009/en/films/film_detail.php?id=256
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EDISON AND LEO, Neil Burns, Montreal premiere
Canada, 2008, 79 min.
It’s the early days of the new century, a new era even, and George T. Edison, in his palatial home-and-workshop compound on the Canadian Prairie, is at the crest of it. He’s a fabulously wealthy and brilliantly creative inventor, though he does have his flaws. A childhood accident has left him hearing through his teeth, for instance. Perhaps more consequentially, his rigorous dedication to technological perfection isn’t matched by ethical discipline, oh no. As much as he loves his magnificent wife, his eye wanders (and so does the rest of him). He’s stingy in his affections towards his sons, and his private hall is crammed with “collected” (meaning stolen) artifacts from across the globe. When all of these catch up with him, Edison is left with a dead and lamented wife, the enmity of the warrior women of the Pasana tribe, a purloined Book of Light in his illicit possession and a son, Leo, who can now touch no one without discharging deadly electricity. And from there unfolds the story of Leo—George T. Edison’s self-described “greatest invention.”
Info, schedule & trailer
http://www.fantasiafest.com/2009/en/films/film_detail.php?id=142
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EUREKA SEVEN, Tomoki Kyoda, north america premiere
Japan, 2009, 115 min.
Humanity is under attack by the bizarre, organic forces of Image, and among those fighting the counter-offensive is the determined yet vulnerable young soldier Renton, who pilots a Nirvash mecha combat suit. Renton is part of the crew of the Gekko—the giant battle-craft of Gekkostate, captained by the legendary Holland Novak—but he is driven by something beyond solidarity with his comrades and the determination to defend Earth. He wants nothing more than to rescue Eureka, the strange green-haired girl he bonded with so long ago, before she was abducted by Image.
Info, schedule & trailer
http://www.fantasiafest.com/2009/en/films/film_detail.php?id=121
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EVANGELION : 1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE, Hideaki Anno, canadian premiere
Japan, 2007, 98 min.
The premise may seem like a very familiar one to fans of Japanese animation. A lonely, awkward teenage boy. A father who’s distant both emotionally and physically, wrapped up in a top-secret military project. A gigantic, anthropomorphic weapon-suit. A terrifying, globe-threatening invasion by mysterious, unstoppable alien forces. Assemble all elements, hit the ignition and cue the spectacular, catastrophic combat. When the NEON GENESIS EVANGELION anime-and-manga franchise debuted on TV Tokyo and in SHONEN ACE magazine in the mid-’90s, it knocked the otaku world for a loop. The standard-issue anime concept described above had been blown apart, thoroughly examined and reassembled into something far more substantial and challenging—morally, emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically—than ever before. By the end of the TV series’ run, it had earned major anime awards on one hand and death threats for its guiding hand, Hideaki Anno, on the other.
Info, schedule & trailer
http://www.fantasiafest.com/2009/en/films/film_detail.php?id=84
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GENIUS PARTY BEYOND, Mahiro Maeda, premiere montrealaise
Japan, 2008, 82 min.
Japan’s insurgent indie animation company Studio 4°C takes its name from the temperature at which water is at its densest. A well-chosen moniker, because their works achieve an incredible density of imagery and ideas while remaining as loose and fluid as the most amazing dreams. The visionary 4°C team can be thanked for MEMORIES, SPRIGGAN, MIND GAME and TEKKON KINKREET, all of which have graced the Fantasia screen. Last year, GENIUS PARTY offered an omnibus of Studio 4°C’s inspired madness, and they’ve quickly followed the seven short films of the first collection with five more, and they’re every bit as exciting and original.
Info, schedule & trailer
http://www.fantasiafest.com/2009/en/films/film_detail.php?id=10
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TOKYO ONLYPIC 2008, Riichiro Mashima, north american premiere
Japan, 2008, 117 min.
While the whole world was glued to its TV sets last summer, watching the grand, international spectacle that was the Beijing Olympics, a (somewhat) comparable event was occurring not so far away, in Tokyo. Sure, Beijing had its closing blow-out with Jackie Chan and Andy Lau, but that’s nothing compared to the opening ceremony of the unusual, unorthodox, utterly unhinged Tokyo OnlyPics. Starting innocuously enough with a display of pigeon dancers (the OnlyPic mascot is a cross-eyed cartoon pigeon), it wraps up with a chaotic clash of giant robots, sushi floats and a monumental Buddha head whose eyebeams destroy half of the New Tokyo Stadium. Following an address by the president on the OnlyPic committee and a rather dismaying “dance” by the freakish Egashira 2:50, 128 countries introduce their athletes and the games begin! Since you missed them in August, here’s your chance to enjoy such exciting and fascinating sports as the Women’s Hell Marathon, the Race for Love, a Brancer competition (the obscure sport of kicking one’s shoe off while swinging in the playground) and of course the subtle and surreal Watakkyu, a mystical variant on ping-pong.
Info, schedule & trailer
http://www.fantasiafestival.com/2009/en/films/film_detail.php?id=119