News

Gold Coast Film Festival Announces "Cool Japan" Slate of Anime Events

Carl Macek's Robotech Universe

Carl Macek's Robotech Universe is a documentary focusing on the creation of Robotech and what role Carl Macek had in creating the series with photos and stories alongside interviews from the cast and crew. Steve Yun, the online producer and writer of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles OVA, will also be in attendance for a Q & A session following the film and to premiere new footage from Robotech: Love, Live, Alive. (You can also see Steve Yun at Supanova Gold Coast - Ed).

Details

• What: Carl Macek's Robotech Universe followed by Steve Yun Q & A and world premiere of footage from Robotech: Love, Live, Alive.
• When: Saturday the 20th of April at 1:00pm AEST.
• Where: Pacific Fair BCC Event Cinemas, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
• Tickets & Further Info: Gold Coast Film Festival Website.

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 2 - The Battle for Doldrey

The second part in the three part Berserk: The Golden Age Arc follows the Band of the Hawk as Guts makes his decision to leave the army to pursue his own dreams. However Guts has one final battle to make it through in the Midland war, a solo assault to capture the impenetrable fortress of Doldrey. However to capture the stronghold the 5,000 strong Band of the Hawk must make their way through the Empire of Chuder's 30,000 strong army.

Based on "The Golden Age Arc" of Kentarou Miura's original Berserk manga, the film trilogy include Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - The Egg of the King, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 2 - The Battle for Doldrey and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 3 - Decent. The trilogy stars Hiroaki Iwanaga (Tomica Hero Rescue Force, Moyashimon, Kamen Rider OOO) as Guts, Takahiro Sakurai (Toriko, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, anohana) as Griffith, and Toa Yukinari (Grey's Anatomy dubbing, Naruto Shippūden) as Casca. All three parts are produced by Studio 4°C and directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka (Batman: Gotham Knight episode 5) with Ichiro Okouchi (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion) handling the screenplay and music by Shiro Sagisu (Bleach, every Neon Genesis Evangelion project).

Details

• What: Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 2 - The Battle for Doldrey.
• When: Saturday the 27th of April at 7:00pm AEST.
• Where: Pacific Fair BCC Event Cinemas, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
• Tickets & Further Info: Gold Coast Film Festival Website.

Wolf Children

Mamoru Hosoda is a Japanese film director that started work as a key animator on Crying Freeman, Sailor Moon and Slam Dunk, however he soon moved onto directing anime films with the first two Digimon Adventure movies followed by the sixth One Piece movie. However you will most likely know Hosoda from his work directing Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and most recently Wolf Children.

Wolf Children (Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki) tells the story of a 19 year-old college student named Hana who falls in "fairy tale-like" love with a "wolf man." After marrying the wolf man, Hana gives birth to two Wolf Children, older sister Yuki ("snow") who was born on a snowy day and younger brother Ame ("rain") who was born on a rainy day, but when Hana's husband suddenly dies she decides to move to a rural town. Wolf Children was produced by new studio "Studio Chizu" established by Hosoda specifically for the production of the film. The film was co-produced by studio MADHOUSE. Hosoda is credited as the creator, screenwriter and director with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (character designer on Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, FLCL, Summer Wars) as character designer.

You can also see Hosoda in Sydney and Melbourne, more details here.

Details

• What: Wolf Children and Q & A with Director Mamoru Hosada and Producer Yuchiro Saito.
• When: Saturday the 20th of April at 6:30pm AEST.
• Where: Pacific Fair BCC Event Cinemas, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
• Tickets & Further Info: Gold Coast Film Festival Website.

The Garden of Words - World Premiere

The Garden of Words is Makoto Shinkai's latest work in colloboration with CoMix Wave Films. Makoto Shinkai stated that this film is the first time he is making a "love" story based on the traditional Japanese meaning of the word. At one time, "love" was written as "lonely sadness" (koi) but over time the modern concept of "love" (ai) was imported from the West. While Kotonoha no Niwa is set in the modern era, it will be about koi in the original meaning — of longing for someone in solitude.

Makoto Shinkai started work creating video clips for games and graphic design at Falcom. However his first anime title was the self animated, directed and produced five-minute short, She and Her Cat, in 1999 which received the grand prize in the 2000 DoGA CG Animation competition. Shinkai then quit his job in 2001 and started work on Voices of a Distant Star, a 90 minute feature film he wrote, directed, animated, produced and even voice-acted the main characters with his fiancé all from his desktop Power Mac G4. Shinkai then went onto Direct, write, produce and perform multiple duties on The Place Promised in Our Early Days in 2004, 5 Centimetres Per Second in 2007 and Children Who Chase Lost Voices in 2011.

Premiere Details

• What: "In Conversation with Makoto Shinkai" talk followed by world premiere of The Garden of Words.
• When: Sunday the 28th of April at 4:00pm AEST.
• Where: Pacific Fair BCC Event Cinemas, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
• Tickets & Further Info: Gold Coast Film Festival Website.

You can view further information on the World Premiere screening here.

Evangelion Art Exhibition

The exhibition will contain insight into how the Evangelion anime film series was created, showcasing a collection of original concept, character and production art alongside other items and points of interest from the Evangelion anime series. Rare and valuable Evangelion books, statues, tapestries and other items will also be part of the exhibition.

The Evangelion Art Exhibition tour has been organised by Madman Entertainment in collaboration with NTV Films, The Japan Foundation Sydney, The Arts Centre Gold Coast, No Vacancy Gallery and the Gold Coast Film Festival.

Arts Centre Gold Coast will host two events, Kids' Manga Workshops on Saturday the 27th of April and a hosted talk with Yuko Miyamura, the Japanese voice of Asuka Langley Soryu, on friday the 19th of April. Both activities require reservation.

Details

• What: Evangelion Art Exhibition
• When: Wednesday the 17th April to Sunday the 5th of May 2013. 10:00am until 4:30pm Monday to Friday, 11:00am to 4:30pm Saturday & Sunday.
• Where: The Arts Centre Gold Coast, 135 Bundall Rd Surfers Paradise, QLD 4217.
• Tickets & Further Info: Arts Centre Gold Coast Website.

You can find further information on the Gold Coast Film Festival through their press release and their website.